Sabrina Marquez, the Ghost Thief
by TheGoddessOfWriting
Summary: Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the success of the Fenton Portal, scientists around the world have tried to replicate it and a lab in Buenos Aires has finally managed to build one. But what happens when a thief breaks into the lab and is shocked by the portal? You get a selfish genius armed with ghost powers and ambition that knows no end
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: The Martinez Labs have created a Ghost Portal in the city of Buenos Aires after the success of the Fenton Portal, but the night before it was unveiled to the Argentine Scientific Community, a thief breaks in to see the portal first hand and like Danny is struck by the portal and turned into a half-ghost. What could possibly go wrong when you have a selfish, genius, thief without honor or morals with ghost powers?**

 **Disclaimer: Danny Phantom or any real life locations or characters don't belong to me.**

 **The Thief and The Accident - takes place between Memory Blank and Doctors' Disorders.**

"This has to be the best idea I've ever had." Sabrina Marquez admitted as she hung from the window pane, but she wasn't going to stop now. Not after she'd spent days stalking the premises to see where the Ghost Portal Laboratory was and the best ways to access it as well as locating the security offices and figuring how many guards she'd have to knock out in order to get in without anything blocking her path. With some difficulty, she scooted to the next window pane and pulled herself over until she was sitting on the edge; with one hand she opened the window and, silent as a ghost, leapt in.

Sabrina had landed just where she wanted. The Ghost Portal Laboratory - base of the Portal Project. Where, according to the media, the greatest astrophysicists, scientists, biochemists, and all the like had been working to create a portal that would lead into another dimension: _la_ _Zona_ _Fantasma_. The Ghost Zone. There would be a grand reveal the following day, and it was not open to the public: which meant that Sabrina was not invited, no matter how, she was never going to properly set foot in that lab. Emphasis on the _properly._ If she couldn't see it as a guest, then she would have to see it for herself when nobody was watching – maybe even steal some of the many test tubes in the lab and get to see ectoplasmic residue for the first time. She had drugged the security guards with a heavy dose of a sleep-inducing drug, and had approximated about two or so hours before the effect wore off and they woke up again. But by the time they woke up, she would be long gone.

At first sight, the lab didn't seem special. It was around the size of her classroom; there were test tubes on plain white worktables and machines like lab fridges and Bunsen burners along with the heavy smell of chemicals and metal, but then Sabrina's eyes diverted to the gateway in the back wall of the room. It was hexagonal in shape, with an outline of yellow and black "danger" stripes; it wasn't as big as she had imagined it – the portal being maybe big enough for two tall people to fit through comfortably. Sabrina prowled closer – only walking on the balls of her feet so her footprints wouldn't be so recognizable – and stared at it in awe, taking every detail in.

It was a simple decision and Sabrina walked inside the portal.

She used her hands to guide herself to the end, but halfway there her hand pressed against a big button that started to glow and suddenly the whole portal lit up, the smell of electricity hitting her before the shock.

It felt like her body was on fire, she instinctively covered her face with her right forearm, who received the most damage, while she got electrocuted by over millions upon millions bolts of energy and exposed to the ectoplasmic radiation that leaked through the portal. The electricity ran through her body, making her spasm and shiver inconsolably until Sabrina fell to her knees and then curled up into a fetal position as the electricity continued to hit her – blocking out all thoughts from her head except for the piercing pain.

The energy was eventually drained out on her and Sabrina laid there for a minute. She felt as if she had been doused in acid and then thrown into a fire. Every bone, muscle, and tendon in her body hurt and ached and her right forearm specially felt numb, like it was dead weight. She knew that the security guards wouldn't be there soon - but she feared that the light would attract anyone else in the building or nearby, and so Sabrina grudgingly pulled herself up and very clumsily stood up. Every thought she had before regarding hiding her tracks or going in and out unnoticed were forgotten as she focused on leaving the place before anyone saw her.

Sabrina went back to the window and concentrated on getting out safely, putting one foot in front of the other. By the time she was back at the window ledge, she was ready to faint, the drowsiness made her lose her footing and slip. Sabrina Marquez didn't do so much as gasp as she plunged to what she thought would be several broken bones and maybe some form of paralysis or death. But her body never hit the ground. The world shook back into focus and Sabrina looked around, terrified and then relieved as she realized she was still breathing and not broken into a million pieces. She took her hand to her chest to check for her heartbeat, but was instead greeted by an unusually slow and barely existing beating of her heart.

" _¿Que carajo?_ What the fuck?" she wondered as she stood up more determined than last time and looked around properly.

That's when she realized that nothing had cushioned her fall. And that her feet weren't even touching the ground. Sabrina let out another gasp as she took a few seconds to process it all. She had been: electrocuted by enough electricity to run the entirety of Buenos Aires, exposed to off-the-chart levels of ectoplasmic radiations, fallen from a third story floor, somehow survived that fall, found her heartbeat too slow, realized she was floating.

Once the initial shock had gone away, Sabrina decided to experiment with her new-found ability and test the limits. She tried to settle down on the ground and feel the gravitational strength pull her down but when she was down at the ground again but instead felt like a single gust of wind could blow her away. Having no real track of time, Sabrina made, for once in her life, a rather reckless decision.

She flew up and away towards her house. She headed straight above the clouds and stumbled and barely managed to keep straight – like a bird that was just learning how to fly for the first time. She knew that it was risky and there was a chance that maybe someone saw her – but not quite believing it herself, she was 99% sure that anyone that did see her would merely think they had had too much to drink or was imagining things.

Flying for the first time was an entirely new feeling of being absolutely unbound from everything. Sabrina ran her hand through the cloud below her, feeling the condensed air part before her fingers as she let out a quiet laugh. She was flying. _Flying._ Flying without any technological help – something humans had tried to do and failed and yet here she was. Alone in the night sky, between the clouds and the stars.

No laws, no weight, no nothing.

She saw her house getting bigger and bigger until she could easily spot her bedroom window, still open as she had left it. With propulsion and a little bit of luck, Sabrina managed to fly into her room and land face first on her unmade bed. Sitting up before completely standing up and stretching, Sabrina ran a hand through her hair as she looked around her room.

And then Sabrina saw her reflection in the mirror.

Her once brown skin was now ghostly pale, almost chalk white; her eyes were no longer brown but a toxic radioactive green; her hair, the braid messed up due to the flying, had gone from a dark brown to a snowy white. Her clothes, which had been a pair of black leggings, a black t-shirt with elbow length sleeves, a black belt, her old worn boots, and black finger less gloves – an outfit perfect for no occasion save for sneaking around undetected in the dark alleyways and abundant shadows that were characteristic of nighttime in the city of Buenos Aires – currently, her clothes hadn't changed that much, save for her boots, belt, and gloves, which were now a light gray. Sabrina stared at her reflection.

How, in the name of all that is logical, was she going to even begin to explain _this_ to her parents?

Fabian and Gabriela Marquez were police detectives.  
Sabrina, unbeknownst to them, could be considered a criminal mastermind.

The obvious and so far most logical thing to do: not tell them and act like nothing had happened. God knows how they would react if they heard that all of it started with her breaking into one of the top labs in the city.

Good thing it was five in the morning on a Saturday night and they were sleeping soundly. But that didn't stop Sabrina's mind from racing with a thousand questions per minute. How was she going to change back? _Could_ she change back? What if she was stuck like this forever? A ghost doomed to haunting the city of Buenos Aires? How come she was a ghost and a human at the same time? Her heart was still beating and she could still touch things and stand on the ground – which meant she wasn't completely dead. By all means she should be in a coma or worse. What else could she do? How did this new thing change her whole biology, her biochemistry, her anatomy, her organs, her entire body? What if the scientists at the lab found her? Would they experiment on her? Put her in a zoo cage like a display? Worse, what if they cloned her to make super-soldiers to sell to the highest bidder? _Okay Marquez, that's just going a little too far into sci-fi territory. But who am I kidding, the past hour is too far into sci-fi territory!_

Sabrina shook her head and stopped thinking. No. They wouldn't capture her if she was clever enough to avoid raising suspicion and getting caught. And she was the cleverest. As she wondered how to get back to her human form, a pair of barely perceptible rings appeared at her waist and went opposite ways to reveal her normal self again. Alive and well, with only a few scratches but no recognizable sign of having gone through anything traumatic that would concern her parents.

She stood still for a few minutes, trying to make sense of everything, not sure of how to proceed.

One thing was for sure: she was going to test this and learn to control it.

...

A few hours later, Sabrina woke up by knocking her head on her bedroom ceiling.

" _¡¿Que mierda?!"_ She shouted as she lost control and landed hard on the floor right next to her bed. Sabrina groaned as she looked up and realized that her elbow had collided with one of the many book towers that littered her room and was tilting slightly towards her. "Fuck." Sabrina quickly rolled to the left and away from the tower and used her bed to lift herself up.

The book tower fell just a second before her mother pushed open the door with her gun in hand.

"I heard a noise." Gabriela cried out as she surveyed the room, until her gaze landed on the pile of books; the detective lowered her gun and gave her daughter a desperate look before sighing. "I'm always telling you to stop towering your books, but do you listen?" Then Gabriela went back to the hallway as Sabrina hid the guilt from her face. "Clean the mess and then come down for breakfast." The thief nodded and watched as her mother closed the door behind her before letting out her own sigh.

"Alright Marquez, you are going to test this new abilities until you can master them in your sleep or else you are going to end up tied to a metallic table by mad scientists. No pressure or anything." Sabrina said to herself as she jumped over the books and hurried down for breakfast.

Downstairs her parents were both eating breakfast while watching the morning news. As Sabrina sat down, she looked at the TV to see the current news and her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she read the title. _"Break-In at the Martinez Laboratories Leaves Authorities Baffled."_ The news' lady went on talking about it. _"Last night, two security guards were heavily drugged by what the authorities believe was a group of intruders that broke into the main portion of the lab, where a new experiment – which was to be unveiled today but postponed due to this delay – was in. However, after the staff went through the lab, they have reported that nothing is missing. We are on the story as it develops."_ The news' outlet switched to another story and Sabrina looked down at her plate of _panqueques, f_ eeling uneasy. Her hand suddenly became invisible and intangible and her fork fell to the side of her plate, making Sabrina jump upon seeing – or rather, _not seeing –_ her forearm, she hid it behind her back.

"I'm not that hungry, I'm going to go back to my room." She excused herself and ran back upstairs, clumsily floating some of the way before managing to keep her feet on the ground and close her bedroom door shut behind her. Sabrina took a deep breath and calmed down bfore she noticed her forearm was a visible and solid again.

 _So these abilities are in a way triggered by my emotions. Emotions/instincts=action; intangibility/invisibility/levitation/etc.=reaction. Now all I need to do is to test them and see if I can trigger them by will. If they are tied to my emotions then I wonder what will happen when I get too angry or sad or happy - would that cause a similar reaction as well?_

Sabrina changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of jeans and a somewhat clean t-shirt before lacing up her sneakers and tightly braiding her chest-length hair down her back so that it wouldn't get in her way. She then emptied her school backpack of all but her pencil case and one of her empty notebooks – being the resident class genius, her notes were considered class property by her classmates, and Sabrina didn't want them accidentally finding her notes on this matter when they were looking for her Physics notes.

Back to the pending matter, she needed to find a secluded place to practice and take notes – somewhere where no one could walk in by accident. School, maybe? It was closed on the weekends and students and teachers avoided it like the plague when they could – but she couldn't risk any cameras or janitors or pranksters. _Goddammit Marquez, think! Somewhere no one ever goes, somewhere with no cameras, somewhere forgotten…aha! The old library!_

The old library was a building that had closed several years ago when some deep-rooted sanitary infractions forced the government to shut it down. Now it was deserted and abandoned save for the occasional students that dared each other to spend the night on Halloween and the rats, the hundreds upon thousands of rats. Satisfied with her plan, Sabrina put on her jacket and slung her backpack over her shoulder as she ran down the stairs and to the back door…only to be stopped in the kitchen by her father.

" _Te cierra el banco?_ Where are you going in such a hurry?" Fabian asked his daughter as she grabbed her set of keys. _I'm going to study with some classmates, in one of their houses, nothing out of the ordinary._

"Some classmates need my help with some physics exercises and have offered to pay me for my tutoring services." Sabrina lied. Her parents knew she often played tutor for her classmates in need, hell, they've even suggested she started to charge them. She's lied to her parents before - about going out at untimely hours with Nico or doing some dangerous experiments or the source of some books - but never about something this big and it makes something like guilt coil around her throat and compress her chest. She swallows the guilt as she fumbles to find the key to the gate.

"Ok then, have your cellphone on and loud so that we can call you if something comes up." He reminded her before giving her a kiss on the cheek and saying goodbye.

Sabrina agreed. _"Chau p_ _apá_ _!_ " She called over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her and walked to the gate that separated her house from the street. That gate has been faulty since she was eleven, so just inserting a bobby pin or a random key similar in size would do the trick – but to keep appearances in case her parents were watching, Sabrina still used her key to open the gate and closed it shut as she stepped onto the street.

Sabrina kept her bag close to her chest as she walked down the treacherous streets of Buenos Aires and headed to the Library. She dodged beggars, ignored catcallers, and kept her eyes on the sidewalk until she arrived at the old building. Sabrina ducked to the side of the building and walked until she was just below the window of what had been the Librarian's office. Just like the other times she had done it, Sabrina stood on the lid of the trash containers to gain height and propelled herself up, grabbing the window ledge. Still not too confident with her new abilities, Sabrina pushed herself up and managed to sit on the ledge, taking a minute to catch her breath; the thief used one hand to push the window open while her other hand kept her balance, once the lock gave in and the panel of glass swung open, Sabrina leapt onto the floor. Her knees bent as she landed on her feet, rousing a thick layer of dust in the process.

"Very well," Sabrina sighed as she set her backpack on one of the tables and took out her notebook and pen. She wrote down that day's data as she said it aloud. _"April 2nd, 2005. Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina."_

" _Full Name: María Sabrina Marquez. Age: 14. Date of Birth: July 30th, 1990. After suffering from high-voltage electrocution and exposure to dangerously high levels of ectoplasmic radiation, I have discovered that I am still alive and fully operational – so far, I do not know nor can I estimate the long-term effects that the Accident may bring in the future._

 _However, immediate side effects of this incident include inexplicable "abilities" such as intangibility, invisibility, flight/ (levitation?), and an "alter ego" of sorts – which consists of my skin tone, eye and hair color changing from that of my usual complexion to pale skin, glowing green eyes, and white hair – I do not know yet if said metamorphosis affects all items of clothing I have on my person at the time of transformation. Theory: this "alter ego" situation will evolve into a Jekyll/Hyde scenario – in which this "alter ego" may develop another (opposite?) personality from my own and lose control of it._

 _So far my vital signs appear to remain intact save for a few changes such as: -,"_ Sabrina stopped writing and took a good look at her watch, she waited until the seconds' hand was on the twelve and held her breath. It wasn't until an alarming ten minutes that Sabrina felt her lungs softly beg for oxygen – not desperately as it should have been. Sabrina guessed that at that rate, she would be able hold her breath for even longer, maybe she could last twenty minutes, or half an hour!

" _\- breathing patterns are less frequent – capable of going approximately 10-20 minutes without the need to take in more oxygen. Heart rate patterns also show slower patters, reduced to that of 30 BPM while awake, heart rates while resting and under pressure remain untested – personal guess is that my heart rate while resting is around 5-10 BPM and while under pressure around 40-50 BPM. No superficial or otherwise wounds or injuries."_

Sabrina stopped writing and closed the notebook, shoving it and the pen back into her old worn backpack and taking a deep breath to focus on her abilities. She would have to learn how to keep her more obvious and noticeable abilities at bay – she didn't want to go invisible accidentally or phase through a wall when she wasn't paying attention, _especially_ if her parents or anyone else was around to see it. The problem was that as confirmed earlier, her abilities could act up while she was asleep – meaning that if her parents ever woke her up for school or she slept over at Nico's apartment, any of them would see her and from there she could imagine their reactions.

Pushing the image of mad scientists and news coverage away from her mind, Sabrina chose one of her abilities and focused on it – the chosen one being invisibility. Sabrina focused on her whole body and willed it to disappear. Warmth took over her body, starting at her chest and continuing to spread; she looked down and gasped as she couldn't see her body – she closed her hands and opened them again, she could _feel_ her body but she couldn't _see_ it. Sabrina lost concentration for a split second and suddenly her body flickered like a faulty light bulb and not a second after she was completely visible again.

"Progress is slow and disappointing," Sabrina said to herself as took out her notebook and pen again to write down what she had just done. "But progress nonetheless."

By the time her mother called her and demanded that she started getting home right now, which happened around four hours after she had arrived, Sabrina had tried to command her invisibility and intangibility at will – succeeding for several minutes at most – and practiced the metamorphosis, levitating, and flying inside the building at the highest speed she could manage (which was slightly faster than a child on sugar). Grabbing her backpack and shaking the dust off, Sabrina climbed out the window and dared to jump off, using her levitation to land as safely as she could, stumbling a little before recomposing herself and hurrying back home.

Sabrina already appeared tired as she entered her house and hurried upstairs to her bedroom – so claiming she was exhausted from tutoring did the trick and gave her a good excuse to lie down. She spent the next couple hours staring at the ceiling thinking and following countless trains of thought concerning her abilities, her alter ego, the changes in her body, how these changes would affect her on the long run, whether the difference would be noted by Nico or her parents or anyone. Such thoughts plagued her long into the night, as she showered, at the kitchen table having dinner with her parents, and on and on until she finally put an end to the torture she was subjecting herself to and went to sleep with one last thought.

 _These new abilities could prove themselves useful._

* * *

 **I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but know that I will be re-writing the entire story (though some aspects of the old one like main characters, their personalities, and their involvement will remain untouched) throughout the year - hopefully I won't have to lay off the story due to crippling anxiety and school work this year.**

 **Edit 16/6/2018: rewrite number 2 woohoo!**

 **Thanks to the users RevyCaitEll, Aferus, karisay, and others who have reviewed, discussed, and asked for more. I love you guys.**

 **Notes and translations:**

 _ **Panqueques:**_ **crepe-like breakfast/dessert usually filled with dulce de leche**

 _ **"¿Te cierra el banco?":**_ **"You're late to an appointment?" used teasingly when someone is hurrying to get to somewhere.**

 _ **Chau:**_ **goodbye**


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Ghosts and Humans (and the girl in between) - takes place two weeks after the first chapter**

Friday morning and Sabrina Marquez woke up by hitting her head against the ceiling - again.

 _"La puta madre que te lo re mil pario."_ Sabrina cursed at no one in particular as she managed to keep afloat for another second before abruptly falling down and slamming her back against the edge of her bed and landing face-first on the floor. She groaned a string of curses under her breath but managed to get to her feet and ran her hand along the base of her spine, feeling the bruise forming already.

Taking a deep breath, Sabrina changed out of her pajamas and into her school uniform – a white shirt with a pretty useless breast pocket, a black pleated skirt that went from her waist to her mid-thigh and a black tie both with two thin red lines at the bottom/tip, light gray knee-length socks, and black leather shoes – and went downstairs for a quick breakfast before heading for school. Gabriela and Fabian were both gone, but they had left some breakfast at the table. Sabrina sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed a piece of toast with dulce de leche as she directed her attention to the news.

Another ghost attack had happened, this time not too far from her area.

Two weeks had passed since she accidentally activated the portal, and everything was quiet for maybe two days before the ghosts started appearing. They weren't many, and they were mostly harmless at first, but then there were strange glowing animals that left mayhem in their trail and had a knack for scaring people - luckily the worst injury they ever caused were a few broken arms and legs, but that didn't make it any less frightening. Sabrina made it her priority to avoid them at all costs - she may be half a ghost herself, but she wasn't stupid or noble enough to try and fight them. The Ghost Thief was a criminal, Sabrina Marquez was a bystander. Neither were heroes.

But despite the limitations, Sabrina found her new abilities to be extremely useful for one thing: stealing.

She sneaked out in the dead of the night, flew to the Upper Class boroughs and gated communities and stole a few simple yet valuable objects from high-end stores and rich households. A pretty diamond ring here, a few dozen foreign books there, new test tubes and a microscope from a private laboratory, and other things she could hide easily in her room; unseen and unheard, the security footage revealed nothing but the objects being pulled off from the shelves or table. The security footage of some of the victim stores had been leaked and the media had gone mad – some were quick to label it as a simple prank, others claimed it was a publicity stunt, and the "OMG PROOF GHOSTS EXIST" group and forums were quick to pop up on the most popular websites. Sabrina couldn't help but laugh as she saw their reactions. Of course, these all came crashing down when ghost attacks became more frequent and people were able to put two and two together and see that the robberies were the work of a ghost. And they weren't entirely wrong. Seeing as they didn't know anything about this new menace, the general public nicknamed her as _"El Ladrón Fantasma"_ or "The (Male) Ghost Thief".

Did their mistake provide a great cover? Yes, it did. Did it make her a little bit mad? Also yes (damn _machismo_ ) but it provided a great cover - if someone went looking for the Ghost Thief, they would go looking for a man (idiots). Sabrina pushed the thoughts away as she glanced at the clock on the wall and remembered that she had to get to school. Hurrying, Sabrina turned off the TV, slid on her school blazer, and closed the door and the gate behind her before heading to school. Sabrina braided her hair tightly down her back as she walked quickly, figuring that Nico and Franco would already be waiting for her at the door of their apartment building, which was only a couple blocks away and on the way to their school. And indeed they were.

" _Sabri! Sabri!_ Did you hear about the ghost?" The nine-year-old Franco Oliveira said excitedly, jumping up and down and tugging on her blazer sleeve to get her full and undivided attention. "It attacked the Plaza Lavalle!"  
Sabrina chuckled as she nudged him to his older brother. "I heard, Fran, I watched the news too." She greeted Nico with a kiss on the cheek and talked about school while they walked. "Did you do the assignment for today?"  
Nico's facial expression went from amused to terrified in a second as he tried to remember what he had to do. "What assignment? Physics? Math? Language? Please don't tell me that we had to print something or add images. Can I copy from yours?"  
Sabrina burst out laughing. "Calm down, we only had to do some Math exercises. And of course you can copy - just don't make it too obvious, will you?"  
"Of course, do I look like an amateur copycat?"  
"No, you look like the idiot who has copied off my schoolwork since were in the Third Grade."

The three of them crossed the courtyard and went into the main building - Sabrina and Nico went to their classroom and Franco ran to his. The two teenagers continued their friendly banter as they settled down in their shared desk in the front of the class. Their _camada_ was also discussing the attack - their feelings about it varying from fear to hope to interest to disinterest.  
"Is there anything we can do to make a ghost attack the school? Because I wouldn't mind classes and that Math exam being canceled."  
"Why are they attacking? Is it because they are afraid of this new environment or because they are malicious?"  
"If one of them attacked me, would I be able to sue them or report it?"  
"I bet you a giant Kinder Egg that it's all a government hoax to distract us from something."  
"Do you think the ghosts still have memories of their lives? Maybe they are here visiting someone they loved?"

A different question rang through the others. _"Che Marquez!"_ One of her classmates shouted. "Can I copy your math homework?"

Sabrina smiled as she pulled out the finished exercises and passed it on to the person that asked for them, fully knowing that most of her classmates would copy them in their own handwriting, adding mistakes to make it look original. Like it had been for the past years. Sabrina was more than glad to see how the world could continue on around her like she hadn't been shocked by the portal - it gave her some illusion of normalcy and meant that her deception had worked. Those regular occurrences and the unchanged routine helped tame the ever-present feeling of awareness that Sabrina had felt ever since the accident - the feeling that everyone could see through her deception and knew that she was half-dead and the Ghost Thief. That and her own pride and arrogance slapping her fear in the face with a smug smirk and saying: "I am the Goddess of Lies and Deception, I will manipulate everyone so subtly and so masterfully that the mere idea of Sabrina Marquez even talking to a ghost will seem impossible and senseless."

The bell ringing and Nico's nudging dragged her out of her head and back to reality.

...

The next day, a ghost attacked her.

Sabrina was by herself in a bookstore on Avenida Corrientes, browsing through the science-fiction section when a burning feeling in her forearm and alarm bells ringing in her head suddenly makes her hyper-aware of everything around her. Instincts she didn't know she had were shouting at her, urging her to get as far away from that place as possible; Sabrina set down the book she had been holding and tensed, ready to flee (or turn invisible) at any sign of danger.

And then a glowing green figure crashed through the ceiling and looked around desperately before tackling the bookseller and...disappearing? But then the bookseller got up and stretched like nothing had happened, except that his eyes were glowing green like hers. "Dear God when was the last time this guy exercised? I feel like a humpback whale." Other clients and people near the store screamed and ran away, the cacophony being almost deafening. Sabrina had turned invisible was currently watching the scene unfolding in front of her. Some of the thoughts that went through her head: 1) _what the fuck does he want?_ and 2) _can_ I _possess people? Not now, Marquez - for now: RUN._

Sabrina didn't stick around any longer as she turned visible again and ran out of the store as quietly as she could - not wanting to risk using her powers again in danger of being seen by the ghost or by any passing humans. Her joints ached as she ran as fast as she could away from the bookstore, weaving between the theater-goers and beggars and not stopping until she reached an alleyway and ducked into it, resting against the dirty brick wall to catch her breath. _Maybe he didn't notice me, or maybe he did see me and didn't take notice of me. In fact, that ghost looked like he was at the end of his wits when it possessed the bookseller - like it was running from something...kinda like what you are doing now._ Sabrina took a deep breath to try and calm herself down before thinking things through. _Just walk away, look away, and pretend nothing happened._ Unfortunately, more thoughts replied with possible outcomes.

 _You know that ignoring the problem sometimes makes it worse?  
Yes, but this is a ghost attack that wasn't even aimed at me - and besides, it is isn't my problem to deal with: by all means, the responsibility relies on the the Portal Project and the Martinez Laboratories.  
Well it _is _your problem if the ghost that possessed the bookseller comes after you-  
But why would he come after me? I've done nothing, by all means, I ran away and left him alone to do whatever he pleased. __So, in conclusion: ignore the problem until it involves me directly._

Finally managing to calm down and appear normal, Sabrina Marquez stepped out of the alleyway and walked away, not looking back once.

...

The following week, Sabrina was eating dinner by herself in the kitchen when her parents, the Police Detectives Fabian and Gabriela Marquez, strolled into the house and nearly collapsed on their chairs, exhaustion clear in every movement. Sabrina jumped out of her chair and brought them both a glass of water, the marriage looking ready to fall asleep on the table.  
 _"¿Que les paso?_ What happened? Are you okay?" Sabrina asked.  
"These ghost attacks have been getting worse - one of them possessed a bookseller in Corrientes and destroyed public property before killing its host. Then there's the Ghost Thief and regular human thieves trying to copy its technique, and the motherfucking ghosts abusing of our lack of weapons to-" Fabian listed before Gabriela cut him off.  
"Fabian, that's enough." Gabriela sentenced, making it clear that wasn't having any more of it. She was massaging her forehead with her thumb and index - like she always did when she had a bad headache or a migraine. "I've had enough with the dead at work, let's not discuss it here." She got up and headed upstairs, mumbling a _"buenas noches"_ on her way out. Fabian grabbed a fork and shared Sabrina's plate as they continued talking.  
"Have you tried to get ghost weapons? Or anything that might work against them?" Sabrina suggested.  
"That's the first thing the higher-ups did - the problem is still too new and there are few who are willing to even believe they are real." _You have me,_ Sabrina thought but didn't say.  
"And I imagine that any attempts on foreign help would fall on deaf ears, wouldn't it?"

Fabian could only sigh before getting up, giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead and going upstairs to sleep. Sabrina looked down at her emptied plate as the guilt ate at her. _This is your fault, Marquez. Hell knows that they are already worried about human criminals assaulting you - and now with ghosts you'll be lucky if they let you out of the house for anything besides school. Good one *sarcastic clapping* bravo, bravisimo!_ Sabrina groaned as she washed the dishes. "The last thing I need: my conscience suddenly resurfacing. _Y se puede saber donde estabas_ when I walked into the portal?" _Buried underneath all that blind ambition and pride, right where you left me._ Focusing on the plate rather than on her head, Sabrina finished with the dishes and marched to her room.

Sabrina fell face-first into her bed and didn't have the strength or the will to even change out her uniform - which she only now realized was still on her, because she can break into a high-security lab but forget the day of the week or that she is still wearing her school uniform despite arriving home hours ago. Yawning, Sabrina threw her shirt and skirt on the desk chair and decided that the white t-shirt and black shorts she wore underneath the uniform made acceptable pijamas.

Sabrina fell asleep and it didn't take long for her body to hover in mid-air.

...

The ghost attacking her school - worse, her _classroom_ \- while she was inside was the last straw.

This ghost wasn't one of the animals or misshapen specters, it was a ghost that sported a military uniform from centuries before and a sword in one hand while yelling: "FOR THE MOTHERLAND!" and trying to stab students and teachers and objects repeatedly - only to find that he was, indeed, a terrible swordsman and kept missing his targets, instead crashing into objects like the blackboards and (occupied) desks. "Why must I be punished in such a way?!" He shouted at the sky, making his face red like their school blazer.

Sabrina had gone to the bathroom and shifted into the Ghost Thief the second she felt the burn in her forearm and the alarm bells in her head - with strangely great timing seeing that the screams from terrified students began shortly afterwards. The Ghost Thief led the ghost away from the building and hoped that Nico would fill in the blanks for a believable excuse when he noticed that she was missing - after all she _had_ done it for him on more than one occasion including the time in which he decided to go to the cinema with Laura Espinosa at two o'clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday.

"Come on, you poor excuse for a swordsman! Are you really so terrible that you can't even hit a defenseless maiden?" _A bit sexist and extremely old-fashioned? Yes. Did it make him even angrier? Also yes. Men's egos are extremely fragile no matter which century they are from_. "What do you want, anyways? Revenge, chaos, a good shower and a good night of sleep, directions back to the Ghost Zone?"  
"I wish for nothing but the triumph of my motherland!" Now that he spoke more slowly and wasn't trashing around like a maniac, the Ghost Thief could distinguish the name on the uniform and winged the era it probably belonged to. _While "motherland" could refer to pretty much anywhere, his weapon and the uniform style are European, and the way his name on the uniform - "Steiner", he is German - so, last century or further back. Definitely._  
"Well then, _Herr_ Steiner, I truly regret to inform you that your motherland has lost two of the most defining wars in human history. So you have nothing to do here, now we would all kindly appreciate it if you fucked off to the Ghost Zone and pick up a new hobby." The Ghost Thief said sweetly, molding her features into those of a teacher correcting a child who just wrecked the classroom.  
"It is impossible! Unthinkable! You are a liar, _m_ _ädchen!_ " He declared, charging at her. The Ghost Thief simply turned intangible and smirked as the ghost, clearly not thinking, followed her in his rage. "Stop running and face me like man!"

The Ghost Thief flew straight for the Martinez Laboratories at full speed and looked behind her to see Steiner still red with rage; she got to the portal and quickly opened it, standing in front of it as she stood for a few seconds and didn't move until the soldier charged at her. Swiftly, the Ghost Thief flew up and without slowing down Steiner flew straight into the Ghost Zone. Barely thinking, the Ghost Thief fired a blast at the portal controls and it shut down, the doors closing with a satisfying _THUMP._ Alarms started blaring and the Ghost Thief took it as her cue to leave as she flew back to her school as fast as she could with the toll of the chase.

Once she was back in the destroyed bathroom, the Ghost Thief braced herself for something that was going to hurt and slid under some debris before changing into Sabrina Marquez. Instantly, the weight of the stone and plaster started crushing her, the sharp edges clawing at her skin and leaving scars behind but even with that Sabrina - now actually looking like she was in the bathroom when this whole spectacle happened -got up and walked out only to be intercepted outside the bathroom by a worried Nico.

" _Estas bien?_ Are you alright? I was worried and God, you look like you crawled out of hell." Nico said as he saw the fresh cuts and her ruined uniform. Nico himself had a few cuts along his own clothes and his black hair looked like it had passed through a hurricane - but other than that he was uninjured.  
" _Estoy bien._ Really, Nico, I'm fine." Sabrina said as they walked back to their classroom, where a good portion of their classmates had some sort of injury or strain from Steiner crashing against a desk and using it as a bulldozer. "But they are not. What the hell happened? All I could make out before everything came falling down was someone shouting." Sabrina felt like a hammer was pounding her head from the inside, the exhaustion from dealing with Steiner taking a toll and making her sit down on a spare chair to rest.  
Nico sat on a desk in front of her, legs dangling off the edge. "There was this ghost wearing an old-timey military uniform and using a sword. Well, actually he destroyed more without his sword but anyways, the police and the ambulance are on their way. You think that..."  
Sabrina didn't even need to hear the rest of the sentence. "Knowing my parents, they ran out of the station the second they heard ' _attack at the Colegio Alberti'_." Sighing, she leaned back and tilted her head up, closing her eyes for a second. She opened one eye and raised an eyebrow at Nico. "Do you think that the administration is going to give us some time off while they repair everything?"

Nico laughed and then put his hands together like he was praying and looked up to the damaged ceiling. "Yes, please." He turned back to Sabrina as if he just had a revelation. "A lot of things are going to change now, aren't they? With all the ghosts and everything." Was that...fear? Sabrina hadn't seen actual fear in his eyes since... _N_ _o no, Nico. I was feeling horrible enough before._

The authorities - the police, ambulances, and fire department - arrived and helped lead the students that hadn't been fortunate enough to be outside when the ghost attacked. Just like she predicted, Sabrina barely got out of the building when her parents almost threw her to the ground with their combined hug. "Thank God you're alright. We came as soon as we heard." Gabriela said in her overprotective mother voice. It had been a long time since she had heard it so clearly - that tone was usually buried underneath others, barely perceivable. Now it was loud and clear and it fed a feast to Sabrina's ever growing guilt. Nico had gone off to find Franco in the sea of students, teachers, press, spectators, and others that had been attracted by the commotion.

Sabrina looked away from her mother when she saw the state that Franco was in.

She had assumed that the classrooms of terrified small children hadn't been of interest to the soldier - and while Franco didn't have any injuries he was covered in plaster dust and tear marks on his cheeks. He was clinging to Nico's neck as his older brother gave him a piggyback ride, clearly trying to keep him as close as possible. " _Hola Gabriela, hola Fabian."_ He greeted the Detectives, smiling despite the situation. "Can you do me a favor and call my Mom to let her know we are alright?"

The rest of the morning events went by in a blur - without her registering much of it, Sabrina found herself at home having lunch with her parents and Franco and Nico; then the two brothers were picked up by their mother; then her parents had to go back to work and suddenly Sabrina found herself in an empty house. _Good, more time for power practice and experiments I should really be doing in a professional lab!_ Downing a cup of _cafe con leche_ to wake herself up, Sabrina floated up to her room by phasing through the ceiling.

Surprisingly, she managed not to tip off a book tower this time.

While she had spent most of her time trying to find the most effective ways to keep her powers under control, Sabrina had also tried to test the limits of her powers - "testing limits" being a more appealing name for "let's see how much I can do without fainting or worse". Sure, her intangibility and invisibly were still unpredictable and couldn't control them for long periods of time, but she was getting there, slowly; she almost had full control of flight and levitation, her landing only an ungraceful stumble after she had been flying at top speed and - of course - morning landings. She had discovered that she could make large objects move if she concentrated enough, but it left her with a pounding headache afterwards, especially after she tried levitating her highest book tower and had to spend the rest of that Sunday afternoon lying in bed. Smaller objects were, thankfully, easier to move.

And so, Sabrina Marquez spent the rest of her afternoon finding new and exciting uses for her powers and writing down her observations on her notebook along with the other data she'd gathered from previous test and "experiments" she'd done on herself after the Accident. At the end of the long and tiring day, Sabrina was just changing out of her uniform when she caught a glimpse of her reflection and saw the Ghost Thief staring at her. It was a satisfied, devious grin - the kind that Sabrina had on her face when her experiments proved successful or when she pulled off a robbery and left behind baffled authorities.

Sabrina Marquez smirked at her reflection and the Ghost Thief returned the gesture.

* * *

 **Useful Translations:**

 **"La puta que te lo re mil pario": the whore that gave birth you (used to curse at pretty much anything)**

 **"Estas bien?": Are you alright?**

 **"Estoy bien": I'm fine**

 **Mädchen: girl (German)**

 **"Que les paso?": What happened to you?**

 **"Buenas Noches": goodnight**

 **"Che!": Hey!**

 **dulce de leche: caramel, but better**


	3. Chapter 3

****Before anything, this chapter will be in a dual POV, and from Danny's POV Sabrina's accent is very thick while talking in English. So if it sounds strange, it was on purpose.****

 ** **Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sabrina Marquez and any other original characters and situations that were not on the show. That belongs to Butch Hartman.****

 ** **Two Halfas – takes place several days after the last chapter****

Danny was already having a terrible day before he ended up in another country.

It was Friday in the early afternoon and already he'd flunked his English exam; was shoved into more lockers than he cared to count; fought the Box Ghost __at least__ five times before third period, and now he was in the Ghost Zone being hunted by Skulker. _A_ _ _gain.__

"Can't I have __one__ gosh-darned day where I can focus on anything else besides getting my ass kicked?" Danny shouted as he shot several ectoblasts aiming at Skulker, all of them hitting Skulker's shield.  
"Not until I have your pelt hanging on my wall _,_ _ _whelp__ _._ " Skulker replied and shot three more missiles in his direction. Danny dodged them and kept firing. Dodge. Fire. Dodge. Fire.

Danny was getting tired, so he looked around and tried to see if he could trap Skulker anywhere or escape somewhere else. Almost hidden by the purple doors and floating rocks of the Ghost Zone, he saw a portal in the distance. Danny had lost track of where he was but thought that he couldn't have gone too far from the Fenton Portal. Danny flew at top speed towards it and hoped for the best as he got closer and closer...and crossed the portal into a lab. The portal doors closed down and Danny laid back on them to catch his breath.

It took Danny two seconds to realize that he was in the wrong lab.

Danny stood up and examined his surroundings. He immediately noticed that it was clean and deserted. Save for the tools and equipment on one table near the portal, the work tables were empty. Had the lab been evacuated? Where was everyone? _Where was he?_ This wasn't Fenton Works, and judging by the signs in the lab being in another language entirely, he wasn't even in the United States. But there are only two Ghost Portals in the world, right? One in his basement and one in Vlad's mansion. He vaguely recalled a conversation his parents had a couple of months or so ago about a lab somewhere in Latin America that was building a Ghost Portal, but he'd been too wrapped up in finishing his daunting pile of homework to pay much attention. He also vaguely recalled thinking it was a terrible idea.

 _So I'm somewhere in Latin America, but where?_ Danny decided to find out and flew through the wall. He flew around but was careful to fly above the rooftops just in case the locals weren't used to seeing a flying teenager around, while trying to spot any obvious landmarks that would help him figure out where he was. Five minutes later, as he flew above a crowded square, he spotted another ghost.

The ghost girl looked around his age, with white hair done in a single braid; black pants and t-shirt with long sleeves; and gray belt, laced-up boots and wrist-length gloves. Danny could see she was carrying something, but he couldn't see what it was clearly, so he flew closer. As he flew closer, he managed to see that the ghost was carrying an ordinary human backpack around the same time that the ghost girl sensed him and turned around like a whip.

" _¿Quien sos y que querés?"_ She said in Spanish with a strange accent while looking him up and down wearily. She was seizing him up and analyzing him, determining what he was: friend or foe or neither. She didn't look particularly friendly either.  
Danny stared at her with a mix of confusion and determination, he was tired but willing to fight ghosts here too if it came down to it. "Who did you steal that backpack from?" He asked impatiently. He didn't know a word in Spanish except maybe _"adios"_ and _"papá"_ and a few other words, and that was because of spending so much time near Paulina.  
The ghost girl examined him closely and stumbled over the words. "I did not steal it." She said in a broken and heavily-accented English, but it was clear enough.  
"Yeah, right." Danny said before firing an ecto-blast. She dodged it and cursed at him in Spanish as she flew away, leaving him with no choice but to follow.

The girl flew as fast as she could to an abandoned area right next to a foul-smelling river, composed mainly of run-down warehouses and abandoned factories, and flew a few feet over the ground, weaving in and out of the buildings. Danny chased after her, feeling the toll of the other fights he'd had that day but ignoring it in order to pursue the ghostly thief. He noticed a few things during the chase, like the way she was actually way slower than him but flew around the place like she knew every corner, while he was completely new to this territory and growing more tired each second.

Too late, by the time he realized he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, Danny felt the blow to his head as he crashed straight into a wall. Without any energy left, Danny Phantom changed back into Danny Fenton and slid down the wall, painfully falling on his stomach. And then he heard the gasp.

Danny looked up to see the ghost girl hovering a few feet up in the air, looking at him with her gloved hands covering her mouth in...shock? Surprise? "What? Do I have something on my face?" He said with his usual level of sass and sarcasm despite the pounding in his head.

"You are just like me." She said, taken aback. Suddenly, a pair of light rings appeared at her waist and then she was human. Her skin was a dark tan, her eyes and hair were both a dark brown. She was wearing a red blazer, a black skirt, gray stockings, and black shoes - a school uniform. _You are just like me_. She was a halfa too.  
Danny got up hastily and shivered as he realized it was colder than in Amity park – where spring was at full force – and wherever he was now was around 55°F degrees tops, even though it was late April. "Where am I? And who are you?"  
"Why were you shooting at me?" She demanded while glaring at him, getting over the amazement pretty quickly.  
"I thought you'd stolen the backpack, I didn't know you were a halfa." Danny replied. "Now could you please tell me where am I?"  
"Buenos Aires." The girl answered, crossing her arms over her chest.  
"Where is that?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow. Due to ghost fighting, he'd missed maybe half of his Geography classes this semester - that and he didn't recall ever hearing of the place he was now in.  
The Latina looked like she wanted to kill him or slap him in the face with her backpack. Probably both. "Buenos Aires? Argentina? You're a _yanqui,_ no doubt." She said, chuckling at the end before turning serious again. "I'm Sabrina."  
"Danny. So you're a halfa too. Great, just how many of us are there?!" Danny said dryly, a cold wind went through him and goosebumps rose on his bare arms. He really needed to get home. "If it's not too big of a bother, could you point me in the right direction to the Ghost Portal here?"

Sabrina pointed to the north east and then turned her back on him and waved. " _Chau!"_ She said and walked away, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.  
"Well that was weird." Danny stood there shivering for a moment but gathered his strength and changed into Phantom before flying up and away.  
And then he heard the deep gruff voice and the jet-pack humming.

"Think you could lose me for long, whelp?"

…

Sabrina started to run when she saw the mechanical nightmare.

Blue skin, flaming hair, and an armor that looked like it was pulled straight out of a comic book? _Oh hell no_. _He can screw himself. I'm out of here._ Deciding that another ghost would catch the ghost's attention, Sabrina stayed in her human form and was quick to abandon the desolated warehouses and move onto the busy streets.

She wasn't as close to her house as she wanted, and she decided it was better to head underground if the ghost tried to follow her. Ignoring the catcalls from older men, Sabrina kept a quick pace as she got closer to Subway station that was a few blocks away - sidestepping to avoid other people, street vendors, and beggars. Just a few more blocks and she'd take the underground and head back home. These streets began to empty out, something expected at this time of night, which she as grateful for - nobody needed to see this.

Up on the sky, the mechanical ghost and Danny were still fighting, shooting ectoblasts in the case of Danny and missiles and rockets from the ghost; Sabrina turned intangible to avoid being stepped on or ran over by the chaos of people who were smartly running away from the fight above. She didn't stop running as she reached into her blazer's inside pocket for change, looking back occasionally at the fight to make sure it was as far away from her as possible.

That happened around the same time that Danny was hit in the chest by a stubborn missile. Grudgingly, he sucked an angry little blob into...was that a _thermos_? The mechanical armor was sucked along with it and a very tired (and slightly injured) Danny was blown away, landing hard on the pavement and changing back right in front of Sabrina Marquez.  
"Do you still want me to point you in the right direction to the lab?" Sabrina asked sarcastically. "Or to the nearest hospital?" Snickering, she helped the boy up.  
"Not the hospital!" Danny begged. If he went to the hospital, then he'd have to contact his parents, and he didn't need his parents wondering _how_ he ended up in another country.

Sabrina laughed and urged him to come along. " _Tranquilizate,_ I was joking. Stick with me, we'll be home in a few minutes."

...

Danny stuck close to Sabrina on the subway station and on board, not really liking being squeezed between four different people and not being able to use invisibility or intangibility to escape this (also he was pretty sure someone felt his pocket and withdrew because there was nothing there). Not ten minutes after, he followed Sabrina out of the station and through some blocks and then through a gate that led to house smaller than his own, and a door that led to a very cozy and warm kitchen that made him forget that he was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and jeans in the middle of Autumn. Sabrina took off her blazer, revealing a long-sleeved white shirt with a black and red crest on the breast pocket, and turned on the stove before placing a kettle with water on it.

"Sit down, I will be right back." Sabrina instructed him as she left the kitchen and went to look for something. Danny took in his surroundings and was pleasantly surprised to see that there were no strange inventions or ghost weapons out to get him. _So this is what a normal home looks like, at least here anyway_. Sabrina was back in no time with a white plastic box in her hands, muttering things to herself in Spanish that he couldn't understand. "Anything else I can offer you, something to drink or to eat?" She said as she placed the box on the table.

"No thanks. Ehmm... _g_ _racias."_ Danny said, trying to at least be kind enough to say "thank you" in her language after she had spoken to him in English. The wound on his chest wasn't serious, it was just deep enough to draw blood, but Skulker must have done something to his missiles, because it _hurt_.  
"You are welcome." Sabrina replied as she grabbed what looked like a wooden glass, filled it to the top with some green leaves, and then poured the hot water into an actual thermos before she finally sat down next to him. "Now, if you don't mind answering my questions: who was that ghost? Will he ever be back? And why did you say there were more like us?"

Danny realized that she couldn't have been a half-ghost for too long, considering that she had ran from Skulker and was asking _him_ for information. "That ghost was Skulker, he's "The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter", he sorta wants to capture me since I'm a "rare species" or something like that. It's actually pretty surprising he didn't come after you." He explained while he caressed his wound with a cotton pad dabbed in alcohol. "And I thought there were only two halfas in the world – me and Vlad Masters, he's this evil billionaire bastard who wants to marry my mom and kill my dad – you don't want to meet him." Danny finished cleaning the wound and wrapping it up, but he had questions to make as well. "How did you become a half-ghost, anyway?" He asked, looking up at from his bandaged arm once he figured it was tight enough.

"I was – _cual es la palabra...ah si –_ electrocuted by the same portal you came out of." She answered, one hand gesturing and the other holding her drink. In a split second her expression changed from nonchalance to confusion and then to anger. _"Los del laboratorio arreglaron el portal...que so-pedazo de idiotas!"_ Sabrina realized, hitting the table with her free hand, forgetting that Danny was there. "Sorry. Do me a favor and destroy the controls of the portal when you head back the Ghost Zone, the last thing I want to do is run into more ghosts."

"Sure, no problem." Danny agreed, not really thinking it through, but he noticed she hadn't told him what she was doing at the lab for her to be zapped by it - or why she couldn't do it herself. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why were you at that lab when the portal was turned on? Even _I_ was forbidden from going near the Fenton Portal when it was finished - and it's in my basement!"

Sabrina examined him closely, like she was determining whether he was trustworthy or not. She decides that for now, he's not. "I was at the lab for personal reasons." She said. "And to live having a portal like that in my house.." Sabrina shuddered. "You are from that town – Amity Park, _no_? The one that is infested with ghosts?"

"Yeah." He replied. "I'm used to them. I mean, I've been like this for over a year now, after I was zapped by my parent's portal – they are obsessed with ghosts and it was their greatest achievement. For how long have...?"

"Around three weeks and the only ghost I fought was the ghost of a German soldier from the 19th or 18th century - _ni idea_. Terrible swordsman, overly patriotic, ever heard of him?" Sabrina folded up the sleeves of her shirt at the elbows - revealing several blotches on her skin that looked suspiciously like chemical stains and what looked like several needle scars.

That fact surprised Danny. _Three weeks and she only fought one ghost._ "Really? When the portal back home opened there was a straight-up invasion!" Danny wondered how things might have turned out differently if he had only one ghost fight after becoming a halfa - maybe he would actually make it home before curfew.

Sabrina looked confused for a moment before clarifying. "Oh no, there were a lot of ghosts, but I did not fight them – they were mostly harmless, there were some injuries here and there, a murder, and some property damage. I just tricked Steiner into following me back to the portal and into the Ghost Zone he went, no fighting necessary." She explained.

"Wait – what? You let ghosts fly around and destroy everything?!" Danny questioned, holding the sides of his head to emphasize his point. _What would have happened if I let ghosts take over Amity Park? It would have been a disaster! Amity Park would have my parents as the only ghost hunters...and then the town would have burnt down moths ago._

" _Cálmate que no es la muerte de nadie excepto la tuya._ Calm down." Sabrina retorted. "And I can do nothing to fight them except make them fly back to the Ghost Zone - eventually when no one gives them attention they go on their own. Besides I have no interest in wasting my time hunting every ghost in this goddamned city - and does it look like I have a weapon that can actually hurt a ghost, _pelotudo_?" She said that last part with very clear sarcasm, like it was obvious and he wasn't getting it. Danny had no idea what a _pelotudo_ was, but based on her tone, he guessed it was an insult.

"No, but I can give them-" He started but was cut short by Sabrina doing a "silence" gesture with her hand.  
"I did not ask you for weapons, did I?"  
"Well no..."

Sabrina let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, taking a long sip from her drink and pouring more water on it. "And in any case: ghosts are nothing when you compare them to what normal humans have done."

Danny didn't know how to respond to that. What was the worse that could happen to you in Amity Park? _Let's see: you can be attacked by a ghost, be overshadowed by a ghost, be hypnotized by a ghost, have your emotions absorbed by a ghost, date a ghost who is actually using you so that his ghost girlfriend can overshadow your body, be kidnapped by a ghost...I think that's about it._ Confident, he told Sabrina the list of "Worst Things That Could Happen To You In Amity Park." Her reaction wasn't what he expected. She _laughed_ in his face.

"That is very funny, but, changing the topic: you have to go, I have to continue with my research." Sabrina insisted, getting up from her chair and collecting the bloody pieces of cotton and gauze and the first-aid kit before leaving the kitchen and depositing the stuff somewhere else, quickly returning. She stopped for a second to think and suddenly looked at him with interest, hands on her hips. "Unless you have something to contribute."

"Research on what? Selfish, self-interested jerks, because I'm sure Vlad can contribute more than I can." Danny said, winning him a glare and a _"I don't have time for this"_ look on the porteña's face.

"Research on half-ghosts, _boludo_. How our biology and DNA and molecular and cellular structure were affected by the accidents. And selfish and self-interested are the same thing." She pointed out, and Danny was instantly interested. Sure, he'd tested how fast he could fly, and had a very good idea of how to control his powers – but the mere thought of being examined like a lab rat was enough to make him shiver, especially after his own parents talked about how they want to "tear Phantom apart molecule by molecule" in his presence. But Sabrina wasn't his parents. Sabrina was a halfa that had nothing against him - there was no toxic crush on his mother or a revenge plot against his father. Just another teenage half-ghost half-human girl that could help him out.

"What can I do? I can barely pass science." He answered. Sabrina reached for her backpack and took out a notebook, she opened it and flipped through the pages before stopping at a new empty page. She took out a pen from the breast pocket of her shirt and started writing and asking him questions.

 _ _Name: Daniel "Danny" Fenton.__ As Sabrina went on writing, she asked him questions like: how old are you? What is your blood group? List all of your powers. And the one that scared him the most: can I take a bit of blood from you? He grudgingly agreed, so as long as it was a small amount and he didn't return home with a missing pint. "Can't you take your own blood?" He asked while Sabrina used a strip of cloth as a make-shift grater, grabbed a needle from who-knows-where and extracted a small amount of blood. She ignored his question.  
"When was the last time you ate?"  
"Seeing as lunch was interrupted by ghost fights and my breakfast attacked me, last night."  
" _Excelente._ The sample is viable." A minute before, she'd phased through the ceiling and came back a second later with a boxwhich contained test tubes and and petri dishes and everything that might have been in his parents' lab. She put a lid on the test tube and placed it on the table. "And because I already did so."

Several minutes and some pastries later, Danny had changed into Phantom and was ready to head back to Amity Park. He turned to Sabrina Marquez one last time to thank her, she shrugged it off. "No need to thank me, _lo justo es justo_. You gave me valuable information and I helped you and let you into my house."

Danny smiled and said goodbye, taking off. And he flew away, going straight to where Sabrina had indicated him to go, along with the instructions to destroy the controls. As he flew over the city, he heard music of all kinds blaring from night clubs and theaters, the smell of meat that would make Tucker jump on a plane without second thought and head there, and felt the undying energy of the nightlife. When he made it to the lab, doing exactly as Sabrina told him to, Danny opened the portal, put one foot in, ready to go, and shoot three ectoblasts at the controls next to the portal, an alarm instantly shrieking and a female voice saying something in Spanish coming from the speakers.

Danny stepped into the Ghost Zone and left Buenos Aires behind.

…

As Sabrina sat back in her desk with a hot plate of pasta in her lap, she read over Danny's information and felt a slight pang of regret that she didn't get as much information as she wanted to, but it was good enough for the time being. Good thing it was a long weekend and her parents had a wedding in Cordoba, they decided that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and the house for three days – after all, it was nothing they haven't done before – so Sabrina took the opportunity of solitude and continued with her research.

It also meant it was the chance of doing some snooping in her parents files and check how much her parents knew in order to best plan her next move. Or, if her parents' files yielded nothing important - then she'd have to sneak into the station and look through the papers herself. And that would be such a waste time.

But that night she would focus Danny's blood and the ectoplasm sample she took from the gauze he'd used and then compare his results to hers and see what traits and characteristics they shared and differed. His DNA sequence was similar enough to hers, except that his was more ghost than human with the ectoplasm having a stronger presence; Sabrina wrote that down in his profile and continued with her work, examining and comparing and writing. She may not have a lab to her disposal now that the staff from the Martinez Labs had incorporated a ghost-alarm.

 _Too bad, a_ _high-tech lab with state of the art technology would certainly be useful, especially with full ghost samples. Maybe one day I could dissect - vivisect? - a ghost. Who knows, I might be awarded a Nobel or countless others!_ Sabrina let out a heavy sigh and shook the thoughts out of her head before they could go too far. _Don't get ahead of yourself, first you have to finish doing the tests then you make the comparisons and_ then _when you consider the fact that this research would sound way too sketchy and that it would either never be taken seriously or taken too seriously and you'd end up being revealed as a half-ghost freak - but putting that aside, even if the research is only useful for you, it was still worth it_.

It wasn't until five hours later, at two in the morning, that Sabrina was finally done with the analysis. But there were still a lot of experiments to run and research to be done, and she would do it all by herself if necessary. Several hours, a sunrise, and two cups of _café con leche_ later, Sabrina had finished the comparisons, classified all her notes and labeled the test tubes - she stored the equipment in its own box and all her research in another one; both of them were stored away in the far corner of her room and clouded from plain sight with strategical piles of books.

 _New discovery: I can pull an all-nighter with the help of only two cups of coffee - two less than what the average teenager needs,_ Sabrina mused as she put on her pajamas after realizing she was still in her school uniform - it was becoming a bad habit, but she had more important things to think about than the clothes she was wearing in her own house. _What more can I do?...the weather is starting to chill, and so flu season is bound to start soon...huh. Does being half-dead grant some sort of immunity against anything or does it make you more exposed to it? Maybe because my cells have become technically dead, most common viruses and intracellular parasites would find me a useless host - but that would also mean that there is a high probability chance that I (and other halfas) might become immune to all human parasites - can't say anything for ghost viruses..._ are _there ghost viruses? If so what are the symptoms and what would they feed off? Ectoplasm? Are the any chronic or serious ghost illnesses? Like a ghost flu or ecto pox or the ghost equivalent for cancer?_

Getting to bed, Sabrina silenced her thoughts and as the sun shone brightly over the city, she fell asleep.

* * *

 **And the obligatory glossary:  
*"Quien sos y que queres?": "Who are you and what do you want?"  
*Chau: goodbye  
*Tranquilizate: calm down  
*" _cual es la palabra...ah si":_ "what's that word...oh yes" _  
_* _"Los del laboratorio arreglaron el portal...que so-pedazo de idiotas!":_ "the lab staff fixed the portal...what a bunch of idiots!"  
*" _Calmate que no es la muerte de nadie excepto la tuya":_ "calm down, it's nobody's death except yours" _  
*_ boludo/pelotudo: idiotic asshole  
*archivos basura: useless files**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dual POV again, but this time introducing Dr. Alejandro Martinez, the owner, CEO, and Head of the Martinez Laboratories and the Portal Project. And this chapter overlaps with Doctor's Disorders – so yes, Sabrina is finally going into the Ghost Zone and to Amity Park.**

 **Ghosts and Science – Doctor's Disorders**

Sabrina was unlocking the gate to her house after school when she felt a pull in her backpack. The tell-tale sign that somebody was trying to pick-pocket her. _Not today, hijo de puta_. Instinctively, Sabrina raised her knee and delivered a swift kick to the pickpocket's crotch, hearing a satisfying grunt and the weight return to normal. _You don't steal from the Ghost Thief._ Sabrina craned back her head and was surprised to see the black-haired _yanqui_ doubling over in pain; cringing, Sabrina helped him up and apologized before fully realizing who she was talking to.

"Daniel, did your mother ever teach you not to sneak up on a girl?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Especially one that always assumes the worst."

"Not really. Right now, I really need your help with something." Danny said, recovering. At this, Sabrina hurried into her house, Danny right behind her, and closed the door behind them. Danny continued with his predicament. "Long story short, these weird ghost mosquitoes infected my classmates with some sort of virus or something that's given them ghost powers. I can take care of the ghost, but I can't turn my classmates back to normal." He explained, hoping that Sabrina would agree to help him.

Sabrina thought about it for a moment. _A ghost virus...what better place to get samples and information than a town that's infested with ghosts? Danny needs me to find a cure for his classmates_ _(fuck them, who cares)_ _, but if his parents are ghost hunters that have created a ghost portal, then_ surely _they must have ectoplasm in its purest form and maybe I can get to examine one of those ghost mosquitoes..._ _Very well, just think of something to tell_ mamá _and_ _you are free to go._

"Fine, I'll go." Sabrina agreed and Danny's face lit up like a Christmas tree; Sabrina shushed him as she took out her phone from her backpack and dialed her mom's number to inform her that she would be gone for a couple of hours – she didn't need to know where. The other line beeped to life and a concerned Gabriela answered the phone _"Hola? Sabri?"_

" _Hola mamá_ , look I wanted to tell you that the Social Studies bitch - I mean teacher - gave us a _huge_ assignment that's due next week and I want to see if I can finish it today at the library. Is it okay if I stay there for a couple hours?" She begged, holding her finger up at Danny that indicated he shouldn't make a sound. Danny watched as she easily sweet-talked her mom over the phone, even going as far to smile and make hand gestures with her free hand as she spoke.

Her mom stopped to think about it and replied hesitantly. " _Muy bien,_ okay. Just message me when you get to the library and when you're about to leave. And try to come home before dinner, can you promise me?"

" _Sí mamá,_ I love you. _Chau_." Sabrina said before hanging up and putting her cell phone back in her backpack. She turned to Danny and told him to wait one more minute while she went upstairs to get her research, just in case it was useful. Sabrina packed most of her research into her backpack and looked around the room in case she was forgetting everything. Satisfied that she wasn't leaving behind anything of importance, Sabrina changed into the Ghost Thief, phased through the floor and was back downstairs in front of Danny.

 _"Vamonos._ Let's go."

…

The Ghost Zone was out of this world.

There were purple doors that led to Ghost Lairs (according to Danny), paths and random boulders of rock floating around, and wandering lone ghosts – from green blobs to a little ghost kid in a pirate costume. The sky was swirling and green and as Sabrina flew she wondered what the atmosphere was composed of ( _it has to be similar to that of Earth, seeing that I can breath normally, but maybe it is poisonous to humans but not to ghosts...)_ and if there was any gravity ( _if so, how much? If a human stepped into the Ghost Zone: would they float or would they sink to the ground or do the Rules of Physics just don't work_ ). _Now_ this _is something worth building a portal for._

Danny led her through a portal and she found herself in a lab.

It was messy and disorganized, with inventions littering almost every square inch of space along the walls, there were unfinished prototypes and projects laying in a work table along with microscopes and other tools. What drew her interest were the vials filled with the green liquid that was liquid ectoplasm. Sabrina and Danny changed back and were greeted by an African-American boy wearing a red beret, cargo pants, a yellow t-shirt, and boots – he also smelled like trash in the summertime.

"So you're the other halfa?" He asked Sabrina as he looked at her with interest. "Tucker Foley, professional techno-geek."  
"Sabrina Marquez." She introduced herself before realizing something. "You're human, right?"  
"Yes."  
"Then why are you not affected?"  
Tucker whipped out a bottle of aerosol. "'Foley' by Tucker Foley - the mosquitos didn't seem to like it very much."  
A now human Danny added. "Nobody with a working sense of smell liked it very much."

With that useful piece of information, Sabrina turned to Danny. "Now, I need these things: one of those ghost mosquitoes, regular human DNA, and if possible anything biological you can get me from a victim – blood or mucus, if you can. I want to see what the mosquitoes put into them and see if there is a way to reverse the effects using chemistry."

"I don't think we'll be able to get you anything once we are inside the hospital – so the first two will have to do." Danny said, Sabrina was clearly displeased but nodded. Danny handed Sabrina a pair of green wireless earpieces. "These are the Fenton Phones, you can call us when you figured out how to make my classmates normal again." He explained, changing into Danny Phantom and Tucker rushing to his side. "We trapped all of the Ghost Mosquitoes in the thermos and-" Danny reached under Tucker's beret, plucked out a curly black hair and handed it to Sabrina, "- that's human DNA for you."

"You'll come help us if things get too rough, right?" Tucker asked, clearly distressed at the idea of heading to the hospital. _A_ _fraid of ghosts or afraid of hospitals?  
_ Sabrina chuckled before replying. " _No_." Danny widened his eyes, he was heading into a haunted hospital with only Tucker as back-up. Crud.  
"Wait, I thought you agreed -" Danny started but was interrupted by Sabrina.  
"I agreed to research the virus and make your classmates normal again, I did _not_ agree to saving you if something went wrong. I'm here to do science, not fighting."  
Danny let out a sigh. "Okay fine, just find a cure and contact us when you're done. Let's go, Tuck." And with that he and Tucker left Fenton Works, leaving an ecstatic Sabrina alone in the Fenton Lab.

Eager to experiment, Sabrina cracked her knuckles and took a good look at her surroundings. She grinned deviously. " _A trabajar."_

…

 **In the meantime in Buenos Aires.**

Doctor Alejandro Martinez was out of his depth.

The ghosts that had crossed into their world - into the city - had been wreaking havoc; politicians were threatening to shut down his entire company if he didn't stop the problem; and it seemed like every time Mandel managed to fix the portal, a ghost (most likely the same ghost) destroyed the controls - leaving them again at square one. It wasn't mostly his fault - the portal was extremely unstable, had so many malfunctions his team could not fix, and since they couldn't find a way to permanently close it, ghosts still found a way to sneak into their world - no matter what they did.

That on top of the fact that he was fighting an invisible enemy - in every sense of the word. The thief that had sneaked into the lab in the middle of the night had not only drugged the guards but also disabled the security cameras - and Martinez was 90% sure the thief didn't come out of that portal alive. Which meant that if he was correct, this "Ghost Thief" that had been striking store after store - leaving no clues and always remaining invisible - was the exact same (albeit dead) thief that had activated the portal.

So after many nights debating with his conscience and several bottles of different alcoholic substances - he decided to offer his help to the police.

He began working with the Detectives Fabian and Gabriela Marquez - a marriage that had been referred to as "The Best Detectives in Buenos Aires" since they have never failed to catch a human criminal in the entirety of their combined careers. Based on the evidence found at the scene of the crimes and almost nothing else, they were able to make a profile of the suspect and solve the case by logic, unorthodox methods, help from sketchy people, and yes: a conspiracy theorist's board with pictures, maps, and pins with multicolored strings.

And yet, so far their combined efforts didn't bear any results.

There were many reasons why they hadn't been able to catch the Ghost Thief: there was no evidence, no way to track the sneaky thief, nothing to build the investigation upon - but the biggest reason was that the Ghost Thief was either completely unpredictable or it knew what the police were planning. And now that it seemed to be either satisfied with its achievements or laying low to confuse them into a sense of security, they had no way of finding the Ghost Thief. The Chief Inspector had declared that the Ghost Thief situation was over and that the Detectives were to go back to solving a murder case.

Dr. Martinez had theorized that the Ghost Thief had used some sort of powers to spy on the investigation and thus find out how to avoid them - he'd seen enough footage from fights in Amity Park and Buenos Aires to conclude that most (if not all) ghosts had an array of basic, common powers (levitation, invisibility, phasing) along with a few single ones that varied in each specter. So it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that the Ghost Thief could have easily used its powers to spy on the investigation without them knowing. Having some sensibility, he didn't tell the Detectives until today, when he was completely sure that _that_ was the reason the Ghost Thief was always one step ahead of them.

"Think about it: it always knows where we are and it knows how to avoid us - it's like the Thief follows the investigation..." Gabriela reasoned with Fabian, who was skeptic to believe it.  
"Yes, but there are ghost sensors inside the police station. If the Thief floated around while invisible, we'd know." He countered. "Unless it's possessing someone..."  
"Who would it possess? And as you said, wouldn't the ghost sensors still be able to sense it?" She asked, this time to Dr. Martinez.  
"Well...seeing that the Ghost Thief hasn't shown to be a particularly powerful entity...it _could_ manage to trick the sensors if the Thief possessed someone and laid as low as possible." Martinez explained, "which means it could be anyone at the station: officers, janitors, detectives, other staff members; any of them could have been possessed or _currently_ be possessed by the Ghost Thief." _Goodness gracious, can_ _you trust anyone these days?  
_ "Is there any foolproof way to figure out who is or has been possessed by it?" Fabian inquired.

That was the most complicated problem. "Not as of right now. Not even fellow ghost researches in the USA have managed to successfully track a ghost - especially weaker ones like the Ghost Thief who on top of that lay low and always remain invisible." Suddenly his cellphone ringed in his pocket and Martinez picked up the call, grumbling as he expected another politician with no experience in his field to be calling him. It wasn't - it was something much worse.

Dr. Martinez left the station in a hurry after the distressing call from Mandel - the lead software developer in the Portal Project - urging him to get to the lab immediately. In the Martinez Laboratories, the two hundred scientists employed were dedicated to advancements and development in medicine and were what kept the lab running and operating properly - and then there was that odd group of three people he trusted with his life and his life's work. The two scientists and one engineer that composed the Portal Project were not only the top STEM people in Argentina (that were willing to work with him) but also the ones that had passed his ruthless questioning; Mandel had designed the Ghost Portal; Dra. Toledo had studied ectoplasm in all of its forms, states, and the reactions it triggered on varied subjects; and Dr. López was a "ghost biologist": he studied the composition of ectoplasmic entities and their biologies.

Martinez walked into the lab and found the three adults huddled around a computer.

"What is it that you wanted me to see?"

...

Less than half-an-hour and some simple examinations after Danny and Tucker left, Sabrina was close to figuring out the answer.

 _So it's the Ghost Mosquitoes that caused the ghost powers...but unless_ ghost _mosquitoes are more complex beings than regular mosquitoes and have a collective hive mind or a hierarchy whose goal is to infect humans, then they are working under the control some_ other _ghost, preferably one that could gain something from infecting students. Who? I don't really care, that's Daniel's problem._

Sabrina took another good look at the human DNA structure and decided to compare it with her Hybrid structure, a "Halfa" being the closest she could get to an infected DNA. _The mosquitoes are carrying a ghost virus that will most likely simply disappear without any trace once the mosquito has been removed - similar to a ghost possessing a human -_ or _if the ghost powers remain and they don't kill themselves in a week, they_ could _cause dangerous or undesirable consequences.  
Like what?  
Well, the reason my (and Danny's) ghost form is able to exist without consuming our human bodies is because the powerful electric shock we received along_ _with the ectoplasmic radiation created another "heart" that keeps our human organs from dying or malfunctioning because of the liquid ectoplasm in our bloodstream. A human's body when suddenly submitted to these conditions has a much higher chance of dying and withering, considering that their bodies won't be able to adapt to them.  
_ _Anyways, let them deal with that consequence. I did my job. Now, how many ectoplasmic samples can I smuggle back to Buenos Aires without anyone noticing?_

While Sabrina inspected the various fluids in the Fenton Lab, she contacted Tucker on the Fenton Phone and explained to him what to do. "Look, according to my research: you have to get the mosquitoes to leave their bodies and that should get them back to normal."  
"But _how_ do I get them to leave?" Tucker asked with an echo in the background, like he was trapped somewhere small and empty.  
"Do I look like a ghost bug expert? Just try that _mierda_ that made them repel from you and see if that works." Sabrina suggested as she carefully passed a substance called _ecto-uranium_ to a discarded and previously cleaned test tube, sealed the top and stuffed it into her backpack's pocket along with the other test tubes containing _"liquid ectoplasm"_ , _"miasma",_ and other ghost related substances.

Satisfied with her inventory, Sabrina contacted the boys through the Fenton Phone again and changed into the Ghost Thief as Danny picked up. "I'm going back to Buenos Aires, I did my job."  
"Bye Sabrina." He said impatiently before hanging up. Shrugging it off, the Ghost Thief secured her backpack and flew through the portal, heading at top speed back to her city.

She had barely crossed into the human world when the bullet hit her.

Turning invisible and intangible out of reflex, the Ghost Thief yelped as she flew straight for the window, feeling the adrenaline kick in and her mind going blank, the echo of _"mierda mierda mierda mierda mierda mierda"_ being the only thing she could think lab was empty when she left with Danny for Amity Park, so in the - what? an hour at most - she was gone, they set up a trap that would most likely either kill her or knock her out from the pain. Sabrina didn't realize where she was going until she became tangible and human again and crashed into a bookshelf, causing the books to fall on her. Groaning, in pain, and with little energy the Ghost Thief changed into Sabrina Marquez as she crawled out of the avalanche and managed to get on all fours before kneeling on the floor and catching her breath.

She covered in head to toe in dust, several bruises were already forming where the books had fallen on her and the bullet wound hurt like a motherfucker, but she gritted her teeth and focused on calming down first. _Calmate, calm down, you are still alive, estas viva, tranquilizate._ Sabrina took off her backpack and checked to see if the test tubes were fine and was greeted by a few cracks but no leaks - Sabrina sighed in relief as she saw that she had flown to the Old Library and could tend to the wound with no prying eyes.

The bullet had hit her upper left arm, near her shoulder - Sabrina tried rolling the injured shoulder and a white hot shock of pain wired along her arm, making her hiss and curse; the bullet had made a hole in her jacket and shirt sleeve - nothing that a few stitches and soap couldn't fix, her parents wouldn't have to find out about it, and she would be able to walk the streets alone - _oh fuck, mom._ Grudgingly, she took out her cellphone and wrote a quick text: _I may take longer than I thought, won't be home until late_. There, one less thing to worry about. Sabrina painfully managed to take off her jacket and pushed up her sleeve to see the wound. A red spot mixed with green around the size of her thumb was slightly bulging out of her arm, Sabrina felt the bulge and noticed the bullet was still inside her, which worried her. _Maybe it was not a bullet meant to kill, but to injure. Or maybe it's not just a bullet. Maybe it's a trac-_

Unexpectedly, a wave of pain washed over her body - drawing a muffled scream from her lips as Sabrina bit her bottom lip out of habit and twisted in a vain attempt to find comfort. The bullet had to be coated with some sort of ghost neurotoxin or poison - it was supposed to eliminate the Ghost Thief. Fear and desperation sizing her up in a fist, Sabrina analyzed her options. One: die and finish the job the portal didn't complete. Two: try to see if there was any way she could combat or expel the toxin alone. Three: go to the Lab, where they'll probably have an antidote. The pain subsided slightly and Sabrina felt the adrenaline fade away as she began to feel the toll of the past minutes - she was beginning to lose consciousness: going back and forth between asleep and awake despite her efforts to keep herself awake.

The last thing Sabrina remembered before giving in completely were the arrival of a group of people, rushed conversations and someone lifting her off the ground. _"She might die if we don't get her to the hospital,"_ a female voice said breathlessly, clearly worried.  
 _"They'll shut us down if we do. And do you want to explain to the Detectives that we_ SHOT THEIR OWN DAUGHTER!?" a raspy male ushered, it sounded familiar but she was too tired to try and pin it, _"we can treat her in the lab, at least the Ghost Thief left her body."_

The darkness took over and Sabrina didn't have the strength to fight it back.

...

 _Sabrina Marquez._ Dr. Martinez thought as Mandel picked the teenage girl up and they hurried to Martinez's private helicopter on the rooftop to take them back to the Lab. _How very clever,_ _possess the daughter of the detectives leading the case and have access to all files and clues - it even guarantees that they don't suspect you._ Martinez had met Sabrina Marquez, seeing her several times as he worked with the Detectives - he'd even played chess with her and she had been sweet and acid at the same time, not afraid to make her opinions known once he was deemed safe. _Or was that the Ghost Thief talking? Using her as a puppet to get information from him and the Detectives? How long has she been possessing her? And how come nobody noticed anything different about her?_

Back at the lab, Martinez was greeted by López and his secretary María waiting for them. "Cancel any appointments, María, with the utmost discretion please." He informed her as Dra. Toledo filled Dr. López in. "The Ghost Thief left her body all right, but she might die if we don't get the toxin out her body quickly."

"But I laced that bullet with Blood Blossom extract, the toxin shouldn't affect her unless...unless the Ghost Thief had her under its control for too long and left a residue." López retorted, not sure of what was happening. They got to the Lab and Mandel laid the girl down on one of empty tables. Toledo and López discussed the best plan of action while Mandel focused on fixing something with the portal.

Dr. Martinez, overwhelmed by the stress and the situation, went upstairs to his office and tried to think clearly _._ When he realized he couldn't, his hand went into the first drawer - where he kept a flask of whiskey at hand for stressful situations - and took one big gulp before closing it again and putting it away. It wasn't until way later, when the sun had gone down and he saw his regular workers leave at the end of the work day through the window, that Toledo barged into his office, berated him for drinking at a time like this, and urged him to get to the Lab quickly.

Sabrina Marquez had woken up.

Inside the lab, the girl was sitting on the only chair they had there, her backpack sitting at her feet as she drank water from a cup and Dr. López asked her questions. "What's the last thing you remember?"  
"I was heading to the Library to do a Social Studies project, the last thing I remember was walking when suddenly everything went black." She answered. She looked tired, the toxin seemed to have that leftover effect on her. It shouldn't.  
"Do you remember any other blackouts before?"  
"...kinda. For some time now, sometimes I am doing something at five and then suddenly it's seven. But they haven't been a lot, just a few, maybe three or four times. I didn't think much of them, I just thought I had gotten distracted or got too caught up in the stress."

Satisfied, Dr. López left her alone and Dr. Martinez stepped up to her and the look on her face changed from tired to distrustful. _Don't worry,_ nena. _I wouldn't trust myself either._ "Hello, Miss Marquez." She only stared at him, analyzing him for any threats.  
"Are you going to shoot me again or do I let my parents do that once they find out?" She said with acid pouring out of her words. Martinez shook his head no.  
"How about I offer you a deal? Want to talk in my office?" At this, Sabrina stood up and thanked Toledo before grabbing her backpack and following him to his office. Once in his office, she sat down on the spare chair he kept and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him expectantly. "Look, it would be better for the both of us if you probably didn't tell your parents about this...incident. So, how much do you want for your silence? One thousand, two thousand?"

Sabrina thought about it for a moment before leaning forward, pushing her elbows against the table and helping her face up with her hands. Any tiredness was washed away, giving way to a devious grin. "Five thousand _dollars_ and I don't tell my parents."  
Martinez was relieved. "Okay, no problem-"  
" _But -_ a position as a scientist in the Portal Project and I don't tell anyone else in the police force. A copious salary every month for said job and the media won't hear a peep from me. And you swear to me on _everything_ you hold and ever held dear that you will not repeat a word of what I'm about to tell you to anyone and the Argentine Scientific Community doesn't find out about this incident - which would cost you...your status? Your credibility? Your degrees? Everything you've worked for?"

Martinez was now wondering whether the Ghost Thief was still possessing Sabrina Marquez or if Sabrina Marquez was somehow worse than it.

Sabrina breathed deeply and started talking. She told him about the accident with the portal; how she was somehow dead _and_ alive at the same time; the research she had done _on herself_ and in secret; the abilities that were hard to control and yet to be fully explored and catalog. It sounded ridiculous and Martinez thought so until suddenly Sabrina Marquez's eyes flashed a toxic green before returning to brown. He'd met a ghost before in a failed experiment of his youth - the first and most unpleasant encounter that Martinez had had with a creature of the Ghost Zone, the same one who inspired his sometimes morbid fascination and curiosity about ghosts, their world and their way of functioning - and his eyes had glowed like that.

"Face it Dr. Martinez." Sabrina said, looking right into his soul. "I am way more useful working along you than I am strapped to a metallic table or not working with you at all." Sabrina said, looking at him compellingly. Martinez was stuck in a situation in which he found himself at mercy of a girl not too unlike him with information that would put his career - and maybe even his life - on the line. So he did the obvious thing to do: pretend that nothing was wrong while panicking inside.  
"Then what do you suggest? Miss Marquez, we are talking about serious research, not just-" Martinez said but was interrupted again.  
"Why do you think that I wanted to see the portal and the Lab when I broke in that night? Doctor Martinez, I want to do research - and now I have even _more_ questions that haven't been answered and researching with your equipment is the only way for both you and me to get answers."  
Grumpy and grudgingly he gave in a little, but not enough. "Well, if that's the case, I suppose I can arrange for you to get the results after we are done..."

"I have something that will change your mind." Sabrina mused. She fished her hand into her backpack and she handed him a file, he took a look inside of it and was pleasantly surprised at what he saw. _Name: Maria Sabrina Marquez. Age: 14. Date of Birth: July 30th, 1990. After suffering from high-voltage electrocution and exposure to..._ And so on with blood test results and ectoplasmic samples as well as physical tests. Everything he could ever obtain by studying an actual ghost was there.  
"Miss Marquez, when you said that you did it all on your own- I don't know what to say-"  
" _'That is impressive and I'm sorry for underestimating your ability as a researcher'_ would be a good start. I believe you wanted something like that. And besides, unlike anyone else, I can go into the Ghost Zone and come back alive, in one piece, and undetected."

Dr. Martinez thought about it. She was right there, he could try and catch her and the whole Ghost Thief business could be done and dealt with. But she could fly and turn intangible, and Toledo had already gotten the toxin out of her system, meaning that she would have no problem escaping. _The information she has isn't useless either,_ he thought. If she could do that all by herself, then working with Toledo and López would not only mean that he'd have a willing test subject but another able scientist who could also act as the official Ghost Zone envoy and explorer. That's too good an opportunity _not_ to take up. "Very well." He stood up from his chair, Sabrina following suit.

They shook hands. "Welcome to the Portal Project, Sabrina Marquez."

* * *

 **Yes, Doctor Martinez and Sabrina Marquez are similar in nature: it's on purpose. Also: what happened in that encounter Martinez had and with what ghost? That's for a later chapter - but I leave any theories and speculations up to you.**

 **Shout-out to those followed and favorited the story**

 **Share, follow, favorite, leave a review (reviews make the author happy, please leave reviews or constructive criticism)**

 **And, of course, the glossary:**

 **"A trabajar": "Let's get to work"**

 **Hola: hello**

 **Sí: yes**

 **Mamá: mom**

 **Chau: bye**

 **Mierda: shit**

 **Tranquilizate/Calmate: calm down**

 **Nena: girl (informal or degrading depending on the tone and situation)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: nothing that was on DP belongs to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman. Also, the "Hombre de la Bolsa" is not my own creation, it's folklore.**

 **Ghosts and Old Bedtime Scares**

"Alright students, make silence for once in your life and listen!" Professor Aramos called as he finished taking the roll and made sure none of his students were missing.

Sabrina rolled her eyes as she looked out the bus window and waited for them to leave. Her class was going on a field trip around the city's Colonial houses to see how life was like back in Colonial times. _Like there isn't this thing called history textbooks but any excuse to get out of school for an entire day. Nice going Aramos – pack 25 teenagers into a bus and hope no one gets lost like last time._ Sabrina was derailed from her thoughts when the engine roared to life and the streets went by. The cacophony from the back of the bus got quieter as she blocked the outside noise out and focused on the report she had to finish for Dr. Martinez.

Sabrina continued writing as the streets went by and was halfway through when the bus came to a definite stop in front of an old house and Aramos started herding the students out. As they poured onto the sidewalk, the sky that had already began to darken before was now almost black and a low rumble came from the clouds. _Please don't rain, please don't rain, please don't rain._ Droplets began to fall on the uneven pavement. _La puta madre, now the streets are going to flood and we are going to be stuck here for the rest of the day._ The class entered the old house and were greeted by a twenty-something blonde woman with cat-eye glasses wearing something similar to a stewardess uniform.  
"Welcome kids to the Juarez Manor, a history conservation site since 1987. My name is Laura and I'll be your guide for the day. Now, the rules are fairly simple, please keep quiet as we pass other visitors and DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Please be so kind as to follow me as we start our tour in the reception hall. This house was built in the year..."  
"It was probably built the same year the Mummy was born." Nico said in a whisper to her, referencing their Geography teacher (a very old woman who refused to disclose her age). The two teenagers cackled under their breaths.

And then her forearm began to burn, making Sabrina suddenly very aware of her surroundings and a bad feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach.

Sabrina refused to go and investigate. _I've had it with ghosts. It's probably just the ghost of some patricio or a slave, or- no. Let them be, most likely he or she or whatever will go away soon._ Shaking the thoughts off her mind, she kept going as Laura lead them to another room. The thunder and lightning that could be seen from the windows only made the situation worse as the never-ending _tap-tap-tap_ of the raindrops against the glass windows meant that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon and that they weren't going anywhere.

Discouraged and bored, Sabrina failed to acknowledge the surprised gasp and a villainous chuckle a couple of steps behind her as a misfit vanished into a burlap bag.

It wasn't until several hours and four more disappearing misfits later that the class and the teacher sat down in the covered gallery of the house to have lunch and called the roll again. Only to realize that five students were missing, resulting in Aramos panicking. "Listen up everyone! When was the last time _any of you_ saw Rodriguez, Liniers, Moon 1 and Moon 2, and Albera?" The response: some murmurs and quiet answers like "I saw her last in that weird room..." or "did he even show up?" or the favorite " _yo que se"._ Aramos, having been their History teacher for over three years and thus knowing them well, insisted to them in all seriousness that their classmates could be lost or causing mischief that would get all of them in trouble.

Still, the answers remained the same.

...

In the meantime, in the old, out-of-use cellar of the Manor - four students were huddled in a corner as the ghost appeared again with his burlap sack swung over his shoulder. The ghost unceremoniously dropped the sack on the ground and another misfit crawled out - hurrying to the others as he spotted them. The ghost send the teenagers a nasty look. "You rambunctious, undisciplined children. Just you wait until I get the whole lot of you." He threatened and then phased through the ceiling to search for his next victim.

...

Sabrina was convinced that the ghost that had taken her classmates was up to something. But that still didn't mean she would go after them. _If they can sneak out of school without alerting the security guard, they can very well escape from the clutches of a ghost._ She reasoned as Aramos led one half of the class and Laura led the other in a search for the missing students. She was with Nico in the back of the group led by Aramos, keeping her eyes open for any possible signs of the ghost nearby.

 _So being a troublemaker makes you a target, right now there are at least three more misfits it hasn't captured yet._ _Nothing to stress over yet. Maybe at the end of the day this will all be a traumatic experience that you can sue the school over and get an extra vacation. Anyways, stay close to a misfit and I can follow them._

Satisfied with her plan, Sabrina stuck close to one of the misfits (and coincidentally, her best friend): Nico. "What do you think they are planning?" She asked him as she looked around the room like she was looking for any sign of a prank or a trick.  
"Rodriguez and Liniers and the rest? I bet you anything you want that in less than an hour they are all going to appear from behind something and give Aramos a heart attack." Nico said, pointing at the old armors and heavy velvet curtains.  
"I'm not giving you shit. But I bet you they appear in less than _half_ an hour." Sabrina countered, giving him a side-eye glance. Her forearm began to burn and her senses pricked up.

Just in time to see Nico be thrust into a burlap sack and be carried away by what appeared to be a male ghost.

Ducking behind a curtain and changing into the Ghost Thief, she chased after the ghost while invisible, trying not to catch his attention. _A man with a burlap sack that kidnaps misbehaving children...El Hombre de la Bolsa is a ghost?!_ "El Hombre de la Bolsa" or "The Man with the Sack" is a story parents use to scare their children into going to bed without protesting - _"if you don't go to bed, then El Hombre de la Bolsa will come and get you"_ \- her own parents had used it when she was little and wanted to read past her bedtime, and it scared her back then. _So this is a ghost that was inspired by a childhood bedtime scare? Sounds strange but okay._ The Ghost Thief chased the ghost down to an off-limits area: the cellars.

And in the darkest corner of the cellar were all her missing classmates.

El Hombre de la Bolsa dropped the bag on the floor and out came Nico, gasping for air and shouting curses at the ghost as he hit the floor and saw his classmates in the corner. "You're all here? _¿Que esta pasando?_ " He asked, crawling towards them and then sitting down on the floor with them, clinging to the familiar. El Hombre de la Bolsa seemed offended by such question and that he had been ignored so easily.  
 _"'What is going on?!'_ You troublemakers are what ' _is going on'!_ Disrespectful, disobedient. Were the tales of my numerous achievements in getting scum like you off the streets not enough to frighten you into good behavior?!" He cried out, striking a threatening pose. El Hombre de la Bolsa had blue skin with various tattoos, green hair with a _boina_ on top, and was dressed like a _vigilante,_ a night-shift policeman from the early 1900s. The Ghost Thief saw this as an opportunity to step in.

"You do realize that you're merely a story told to scare little children, right?" She mused before turning visible and floating parallel to the floor in an imitation of the Cheshire Cat, smirking at the ghost and making her eyes glow. The only source of light was them and a lonely weak light bulb, making it difficult to take in every detail - but it worked in her favor if her classmates and attacker couldn't see her very well.  
"And who might you be, eh _nena_?" He said, baring his yellow teeth.  
"Your worst nightmare." The Ghost Thief laughed mockingly, flying around the Hombre de la Bolsa. "Compared to me, these children are goddamn angels. I've made every person in this city cower at the thought of me going after their valuables. The police don't even know what they are looking for. And don't even get me started on what I did when I was still alive-"

The Ghost Thief didn't get to go on as the Hombre de la Bolsa looked like he was about to explode before he quickly grabbed his sack and pulled it over his head and somehow over his entire body and then the ghost was gone, the sack falling to the dusty floor. _Maybe the sack is like the Fenton Thermos and goes straight to the Ghost Zone. Or it could have its own dimension in there. Doesn't matter, it's going into the Ghost Zone either way._ Remembering that her classmates had witnessed the whole thing and deciding to take advantage of the situation, the Ghost Thief kept up appearances by using her telekinesis to make the money from their pockets fly to her and stored them in her belt pouch, then she threw the sack over her shoulder.

Addressing her classmates as they realized that she had both saved them and stolen from them a second after, she took the chance to remind them that they all had experience picking locks. "I trust that you can get yourselves out of this situation. Pleasure doing business with you. _Chau!_ " She said before flying through the ceiling at top speed and then heading for the lab through the heavy rain, trying to get there as fast as possible so that she could get rid of the sack and get back to the group before they realized she was missing. It didn't take longer than a minute as she got to the lab, didn't bother to explain what the hell was happening to her coworkers, opened the portal, threw the sack inside, closed the portal again, and said goodbye; she flew back to the Manor and localized her group on the upper floor and turned invisible before landing nearby and while still invisible turning back into Sabrina Marquez.

Becoming visible again and blending into the group, Sabrina looked around to make sure that it all had worked properly and was pleased when Aramos' cellphone rang and it turned out to be Laura, the tour guide, saying that she had found the missing students and that they were all unharmed but traumatized and in shock. The teacher herded his group to reunite with the others as they headed to the ground floor to find the six students covered in dust and with their eyes wide. When Nico saw her, he jumped up and threw his arms around her, squeezing her neck. Sabrina snaked her arms around his back, crushing him in return, suddenly feeling like they were eight years old again.

"I'm okay, really." Nico said breathlessly. _No he isn't_. _He's lying._  
" _A mi no me mientas_." Sabrina said as she let him go, and upon inspection for any physical injuries - fortunately only a few scratches and a big bruise on his forehead - helped him get the dust off his uniform, face, and hair.

Several hours later, when the streets had been drained and it stopped raining, Aramos kept an eye on all his students as he put them back aboard the bus and back to school. Not one protest came from the students as the friends of the misfits that had been taken comforted them and the rest behaved normally as the bus began to move, leaving that goddamn house behind.

...

The worst happened the following day.

The morning had passed without any complications until her cellphone rang during lunch break with a call from Dr. Martinez. Quickly packing up her unfinished lunch and ducking into the girls' bathroom, Sabrina answered the call. " _Alo?_ Martinez? What is it?" She asked, speculating what he could possibly be calling her for.  
"Ehm...Sabrina - I don't know how to explain this - there has been a malfunction with the portal. We couldn't close it for about two hours and - that strange sack you threw into the Ghost Zone? Ehm...Mandel said that a ghost carrying that same sack got out. Just to let you know." Dr. Martinez explained, sounding nervous and tired at the same time.  
Sabrina wanted to shout or sigh or break something but instead swallowed her words. "Thanks for telling me. Is there anything else before I can go and finish my lunch?"  
"No, please have that report on my desk first thing when you get to the lab. Good day." And then he hung up, leaving Sabrina free in the empty bathroom to curse at the innocent cell-phone.

"Fuck the Ghost Zone! Fuck the Portal! Fuck the motherfucking _Hombre de la Bolsa_! Fuck Martinez! Fuck everything!" She muttered, her eyes glowing green for a moment before turning back to brown as she calmed down. _"Cálmate, cálmate,_ calm down, or else your secret is out and then it's not going to be Martinez then, it's going to be somebody much worse." Now that she had calmed down, the rationalizing of the problem ahead began.

 _Okay, el Hombre de la Bolsa is out. No big deal, if this is going to be Steiner-the-Sequel then I can just make him follow me into the Ghost Zone and make sure that Mandel fixes whatever goddamned malfunction allowed him to sneak through. But if it's not then...the story never mentioned a particular weakness, and when I mentioned everything against the rules or illegal I've ever done he looked like he was about to explode before he shoved himself into his sack like his life depended on it... Maybe I have to find a way to_ actually _make him explode. Take his sack and trap him in this dimension so that he can't escape. Force him to vanish - which is the closest I've ever gone to "killing" a ghost. And after all this is done and dealt with, I have a_ long _chat with Mandel about how to make the portal stay close and open it as little as possible so that no ghost can get out but I can go in if needed._

The bell rang, Sabrina recomposed herself, took a deep breath and faced the world again.

Until two in the afternoon, everything had gone like a regular school day. After the "Manor Fiasco" that had happened yesterday, the parents of all the abducted students had not only sued the school administration but threatened to tell the media if they didn't grant the entire _camada_ a week's vacation - confirmed, it was to take place after the Winter Holidays in July (two months from now), extending their break to three weeks instead of two - but that didn't alter the class in any negative way, by all means, it only made a traumatic experience one of the many anecdotes the students in that class had. The math teacher was absent and so the class grouped around the teacher's desk, the troublemakers taking the chance to recount what had happened to everyone.

" _Escúchame piba_ , listen. I swear to God that it was the _Ghost Thief_ that scared the other one away. Yes, that one. She - yes _she,_ the Ghost Thief is a _girl_ \- talked about stuff she had done and then POOF _se fue, no esta_." She explained to her friend, who went on to ask what the Ghost Thief looked and replied: "She wasn't much to look at, white hair, glowing eyes, and pale as fuck; scary as shit. And then when she talked to the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ , shit went down." Sabrina smiled at her description, satisfied with their description and perception.

And then a loud gunshot on the street cut through the chatter.

The entire class hurried to the windows to see what was happening and were shocked to see the cops trying to shoot the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ as he snagged a boy from fifth year that had been trying to get out of the school building. Sabrina cringed and watched as the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ scouted the area for more disobedient misfits to get. _Actually, you know what? To hell with making him explode, if he is not going to stop until he gets every misfit in the city then he is going to keep coming back for_ months _until he is done. No, I have to make him go somewhere else, somewhere where I don't have to see him ever again. But he is not going to listen to the Ghost Thief after yesterday, so who is going to convince him, the police? Or maybe if the Ghost Thief can't do it...Sabrina Marquez can._

Armed with a new plan, Sabrina took advantage of her distracted classmates and raced to one of the few places in the school where nobody ever went to: the rooftop. Sabrina phased through the locked trapdoor and walked to the middle, where the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ could spot her but nobody else from the ground could. For even a better "good girl" appearance, Sabrina tidied up her uniform, rearranging the skirt and fixing the tie and blazer before calling the ghost. "Excuse me, Mr. Ghost!" She called, loud enough for the _Hombre_ to hear, causing him to approach the roof. "Why are you causing so much havoc?" Sabrina asked, looking confused and innocent as a bonus.  
"I am not causing havoc, _linda_. I'm merely taking all the bad guys away to make the streets safer for good, obedient kids like yourself." The _Hombre de la Bolsa_ explained, smiling like a teacher explaining morals to a little student. _Idiota._  
"But isn't kidnapping a crime? Aren't _you_ being bad by committing life-sentencing crimes?" _Break the motherfucker by talking, a Sabrina Marquez specialty._

Now the ghost looked mind-blown, his smile dropping and his eyes looking off into the distance, mumbling to himself in confusion. "I-I-am-m- _bad. Dios mio santísimo,_ I _am_ bad." He looked around in despair, as if his world was crumbling around him. "I am bad! _I am bad!_ Nonononononono. How? _Why?_ What can I do to make things right?" He cried out, floating on his knees and holding his head. _Perfect opportunity,_ Sabrina thought as she held out her hand as a sign of solidarity. The ghost looked down on it and but didn't take it as he floated on his feet again. "Now what do I do?"

" _Señor,_ if you care for advice, I would tell you to leave this dimension and head back to where you came from, the best you can do is let the cops handle it and they will take care of the misfits and make sure they don't hurt anyone." Sabrina said smiling. The _Hombre de la Bolsa_ suddenly lit up and nodded fiercely.  
"Yes, you're most right, child. I'll never leave the Ghost Zone again! I can join Walker's brigade and help rid the Ghost Zone of _ghostly_ criminals! Oh, thank you, _pichona_." And with that the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ flew down to the street and let several teenagers out of his bag as they piled over each other on the street, with the police and several civilians watching with a mixture of fear and extreme confusion. Flying off to the sky, the ghost didn't stop laughing (almost maniacally) as he headed to the portal and disappeared in the distance.

Sabrina, who hadn't stopped smiling since the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ was there, slumped her shoulders and stopped smiling, massaging her aching cheeks. " _Al fin se fue el conchudo_. Now get back to class and if anyone asks you were in the bathroom." Sabrina muttered to herself as she phased through the trapdoor again and hurried back to her class. It was a good thing that Nico hadn't come to school today - otherwise he would have noticed she was gone and probably panicked. Inside the classroom, the class was still huddled at the windows watching the cops standing around confused and the paramedics checking the misfits for any injuries.

The students talked openly about _what the actual fuck_ had happened to the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ that had made him have a change of heart.

"Maybe ghosts are bipolar or have multiple personality disorders, they _are_ the spirits of dead humans after all..."  
"I bet you a McDonalds combo that he got scared and decided to run."  
"He is _definitely_ crazy."  
"What do I know? Do I look like a fucking a ghost expert to you?"  
"It was the _aliens_ , man." "Just because ghosts exist doesn't mean that aliens do, _boludo._ "

The discussion was cut short by their _preceptor_ coming into the classroom to see what all the chaos was about and telling them to sit down.

...

After a long day of talking about and manipulating ghosts, going to the lab for more research seemed like the only relatively normal event of her day.

In the lab, Mandel was fixing the portal and Toledo and López were working on some experiment; Sabrina took off her school coat and put on the lab coat, ready to work - but first to get the report to Martinez. Walking up to Martinez's office, Sabrina was ready to knock when she heard a loud voice from the inside. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY NO?! MY TEAM'S EXPERIMENTS AND THE PORTAL WILL NOT BE USED FOR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE GHOST ZONE!" Martinez yelled with a crash following immediately after, whoever he was shouting at must have pressed the _wrong_ button. Curiosity won over decency and Sabrina turned invisible and poked her head through the door.

Dr. Martinez was standing behind of his desk, facing two men, one white and the other African-American in spotless white suits and bearing weapons. _They are from some_ _kind of anti-ghost agency? Good thing Martinez turned them down._ The agents looked at each other and Sabrina could see they were both wearing dark sunglasses and earpieces. _Some kind of government agency clearly from somewhere else than here, seen weirder today._ At that point, Sabrina decided it was better to cut the meeting short before Martinez grabbed his flask and did anything to get in trouble with a foreign government agency that would most likely put the portal and their research in jeopardy. She took a step back, turned visible, and knocked loudly. "Doctor Martinez! I have the report you asked for!" She called and was about to open the door when Martinez opened it and led the two agents outside before he ripped the report from her hands and told her to wait a minute as he closed the door in her face. "Okay then...rude."

The two agents ignored her completely and talked on their earpieces in English. "Doctor Alejandro Martinez has declined, sir. What are our instructions?" The black one said. Almost immediately the white one repeated to his partner what their superior had ordered. "We are to remain distanced until further instruction." The agents in white ran down the hall and disappeared as they rounded the corner. _Weird._ The door opened again and Sabrina stepped in to find Martinez standing up while taking one big gulp from his flask. Using telekinesis, Sabrina summoned the flask from his hands, making Martinez slump in his chair and massage his temples. Sabrina sat down in the spare chair and leaned on her elbows, supporting her head with her hands.

"Sorry, Miss Marquez. Those _hijos de puta_ crossed several lines and my patience is not without its limits."  
"Who were they anyway?" She asked. Martinez reached for his flask but she held it tighter and moved away. "On another note, you should really consider going to a therapist about your alcoholism."  
"They were the Guys in White, an "ultra secret" branch of the US government that hunts ghosts. They were _demanding_ that I let them use the portal and our research so that they can find a way to destroy the Ghost Zone and some ghost named Danny Phantom." Martinez explained as he grabbed her report from his desk. "But they won't go anywhere near the lab if I can help it. Now the report." He said as he read through it quickly and mumbled to himself before speaking to her. "Good job, Marquez. And if I could have my flask back..."

Relenting, Sabrina handed Martinez the flask, got up from the chair and said a quick goodbye before heading back to the lab.

...

Four hours later and finally, after two long days of ghost fighting and doing research on more ghostly things, Sabrina finally got to her house and shut her bedroom door behind her. It was ten at night and her parents were working on a _human_ murder case at the station and wouldn't be back until even later, a completely normal occurrence. But even in the safety of her own house, Sabrina couldn't stop thinking about how deep she had dived into a world she had never wanted to dive into in the first place. Not wanting to think about that right now, Sabrina decided to see if she could get ahead with some lab work and leave the homework for last minute the next morning, and then go to sleep before her parents came home and found her awake.

When the Detectives Marquez arrived at their house later, they found Sabrina still in her uniform and soundly sleeping at her desk.  
What they did not notice was the levitating pen trapped between her hand and the desk.

* * *

 **Well this was a long-ass chapter.**

 **Glossary/Translations:**

 **La puta madre: the whore that gave birth to you (used to curse at anyone and anything)**

 **Hijos de puta: sons of a whore**

 **Preceptor: a school staff member that overlooks particular classes and their students - mostly acting as a hall monitor, nurse, and mediator.**

 **Boludo: idiot**

 **Señor: Mister**

 **Dios mio santísimo: Oh my god**

 **"Escúchame piba": "Listen to me, gurl"**

 **Cálmate: calm down**

 **Camada: class**

 **"Yo que se": "why should I know?"**

 **Chau: Bye**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that was on _DP,_ that belongs to Butch Hartman**

 **There you go...**

 **A Ghostly Game of Chess**

The first month of working in the lab was _fine_.  
Not horrible, not bad, but not good and not great. Just fine.

Sabrina may not have trusted any of her coworkers right away after they _shot_ her - in fact, the day after being shot, her paranoia was screaming at her louder than her conscience, so Sabrina reacted appropriately: she used the advantage of invisibility to spy on them and make sure that they didn't work for any other company, mad scientist, or anyone else more evil than she was. After finding nothing suspicious or slightly interesting, she was willing to work with them if it meant a good job with equally good pay and the opportunity to do research in a state of the art lab instead of in her room making sure that her parents didn't hear her. She worked mostly with Toledo and López - examining her DNA and molecular structure; testing the changes in her biology she hadn't been able to test with full body X-rays and scans; trying to find the limits to her powers.

" _Ectoplasmic energy - or ghost energy - is the very energy and essence of ghosts. As we have seen in the aforementioned experiments, a "second heart" or "ghost heart" resides behind the human heart of Subject GT - it thrives on and produces ectoplasmic energy for the Subject to live on. Hypothesis #1.1: if the subject stopped eating and drinking regularly (like a human), the "ghost heart" should be enough for the Subject to "live" on."_ Toledo read her theory and nodded. "It's an interesting theory, Marquez." She kept on reading, Sabrina standing beside the blonde scientist impatiently, anxious to get more feedback. "The question is: can you put the theory to test without attracting attention?"  
"I've been dead for more than a month, at this point I can get anything past the radar-"

And then Dr. Martinez strolled into the lab with a man behind him. The man was maybe in his mid-forties, with gray hair, blue eyes, and a goatee beard; he was wearing an impeccable black suit and shoes - telltale signs of wealth - and the way he carried himself only secured that image. Dr. Martinez called a momentary halt to what they were doing and the crew stopped and stared at their boss and the newcomer.

"This is Vladimir Masters, he is interested in donating to the Portal Project." He turned to the man and explained something in English before presenting us. "We have Doctor Andrea Toledo, she is our chemist. Then Doctor Juan López, our biologist. Guillermo Mandel, engineer of the Ghost Portal. And Sabrina Marquez, our intern." Sabrina faked a smile as she shook his hand, acting complacent and sweet. "Mr. Masters and I are going to be discussing business in my office, please continue on with your work." Dr. Martinez said before he and the rich man left the lab and the crew exchanged confused looks.

Sabrina wondered about the man's intentions as she went back to work. _How come a_ millo _finds this project profitable for anything? Maybe he has too much money and doesn't know what to do with it? Maybe he wants to use the Ghost Zone as a "revolutionary" travel method, hire somebody else to create a method of transport that can fly through the Ghost Zone and make new portals in every big tourist city and make more millions. That's not too unthinkable, after all distances_ do _differ drastically in the Ghost Zone - seeing that I can get from Buenos Aires to Amity Park in a matter of minutes._ Sabrina looked up and the rest of the crew were also discussing what the man could possibly want.

"Too bad there isn't a way to overhear their meeting-" Mandel cut his thinking-out-loud short and he and the rest looked at Sabrina, "without either of them noticing..." He barely avoided the blast to his face. " _Solo decía no'mas!"_ _After all, who better than a ghost when it comes to eavesdropping,_ he didn't say that, but it was heavily implied. Sabrina sighed and changed into the Ghost Thief - once in the air, she gave her co-workers a warning glare before turning invisible and intangible and flying through the ceiling to Martinez's office. Dr. Martinez and Vladimir Masters were just entering the office as Sabrina floated above them, just below the ceiling, keeping her attention on them.

"Can I offer you anything, Mr. Masters? Water, coffee?" Martinez said, Masters politely declined. "Very well. What is it that made you want to donate to the Portal Project?"  
"I along with some dear friends of mine - the Fentons, the ones who made the first working ghost portal - created a prototype portal in college, and although our first attempt was not successful and I have since distanced myself from hands-on experiments, it inspired me to help other pioneers in this exciting new branch of science." Masters explained. _Vladimir Masters: a billionaire interested in ghosts._ _Daniel had said something about the first halfa, a creep that was after his mom. Vladimir...Vlad. Vlad Masters. So you are the creepy bastard, Mister Masters._ Sabrina, now more interested, continued to listen in to their conversation.

They talked about business for what felt like hours and Sabrina was starting to consider leaving when Vlad brought up the accident. "So, I've heard that you had a malfunction the night before the official unveiling of the portal. It activated on the middle on the night, did it not?"  
Martinez, somewhat ashamed and stealing a quick glance at the alcohol drawer, answered. "Yes, but it was a small malfunction, I'm confident it will never happen again with your generous donation."  
"I'm counting on it. If otherwise, your team would be a valuable addition to my DALV laboratory."

 _Nonononononono. Martinez don't you dare..._ Martinez declined the offer. _Good._ "My team is made up of fully-trained and competent professionals, should they ever decide to leave, then they will discuss it with me and what happens next is up to them." He stated, his features becoming serious and almost threatening - well, as threatening as you can get when you're in your 60s.  
Vlad put on an emotionless expression and glared at Martinez for a second before turning back to normal. "If that's what you want." Vlad stood up and so did Martinez, they shook hands - no kindness between the two - and both of them left the office.

Sabrina flew back down to the lab, where she changed back to Sabrina Marquez and was bombarded with questions. "Shut up! I'll tell you everything after Martinez tells us his version of the story, just to see how much the versions differ." She suggested. "Now go back to work!" The Portal Project crew went back to what they were doing before Vlad interrupted. A couple of minutes later, Dr. Martinez walked into the lab with an air of fake confidence (and the smell of something alcoholic) around him. The questions were now aimed at him.

"What happened? How much money are we getting? In pesos or in dollars? Does that mean we are getting a pay rise?" Martinez took a deep breath and threw his arms out to get some space and everyone took a step back.  
"Nothing you should be informed of as of right now. I _am_ however going to say, that the lot of you get right back to work." He ordered, stumbling out of the lab and holding on to the walls so that he didn't fall. Suddenly the crew dropped what they were doing and started taking off their gloves and lab coats. Sabrina, slightly confused but sure it was something normal, followed suit as she explained what had happened in the office. The crew's expressions ranged from surprised to indifferent rather quickly as she told them what happened.

"Martinez wouldn't give up on us that quickly - no one else will put up with him." Mandel laughed. "He is a mad scientist and a known alcoholic who can't hold his alcohol."  
"One gulp and he's calm; two and he's tipsy; five and he won't be aware of his surroundings for a few hours; we still haven't seen ten drink Martinez, but we are pretty sure that's when he dies. We'll just lock him in his office with all communication devices turned off to make sure he doesn't call anyone important while intoxicated." Andrea told Sabrina as the girl hanged her lab coat and put on her school blazer.  
"Thanks for that." Sabrina said as the crew walked down the stairs and out of the Martinez Laboratories. They said goodbye and Sabrina started walking to her house, figuring she had at least three hours before her parents got back from the station. Feeling the toll of a week filled with tests, needles, and blood loss, Sabrina was tired and thanked God that it was Friday and she could sleep through the weekend - never mind the upcoming midterms or unfinished schoolwork.

As Sabrina passed by one of the many nearby cafes, she noticed Vlad Masters sitting with his back to her – and just like a bad acquaintance, Sabrina kept her eyes forward and walked faster, praying he wouldn't notice her. But he noticed her anyway, sticking out his hand and catching her wrist. "Miss Marquez, isn't it?" Vlad said, letting go of her wrist but trapping her nonetheless _._ She couldn't walk away now.  
"Yes. I'm sorry, Mr. Masters, but I really have to go." Sabrina tried to excuse herself but he stopped her again.  
"Please, this will only take a second." He insisted. The undertone changed, hinting that she wasn't getting away. She's been in situations like this before - once waiting for the subway when an older guy an entire foot taller than her got a little too close and had her almost against the wall; the train rolled into the station before things could escalate, but the likeness of the situation then and now made something like disgust bubble in her. Sabrina, knowing how badly this could end, stopped fighting and breathed, remaining composed.  
"Just for a minute. What is it?" She sighed and sat down in the unoccupied chair in front of him.  
"I think it would be of benefit to both of us if you transferred and came to work at the DALV labs. Not as an intern, but as a real scientist."

Sabrina thought about it. She _was_ considered a scientist at the Portal Project - but to keep appearances up, Martinez had registered her as an intern. That's also what they said to her parents to keep them from suspecting. He joked that she was the _ratita_ of the lab. The little lab rat. Both the experiment and the experimenter. _But_ Daniel had told her that Vlad Masters had no good intentions, and from what his way of speaking and expressions when he was with Martinez said about him, he must be an expert at hiding it from others - but he had yet to encounter someone as distrusting as her. "How much are you offering me? If you can beat Martinez's offer then I could maybe consider it."

"A great pay, funding to any and every further education you wish to pursue, excellent working conditions, all in the United States - full living accommodations and necessities covered for as long as you accept. A lab with state of the art technology and equipment, and every resource available. You would be a fool to say no, and something about you tells me that you are by no means a fool." He said, reclining back in the chair like it was a throne. _You're right, I'm not an idiot. Fuck off to your mansion with your billions and leave me alone._

Sabrina Marquez faked an apologetic smile and replied. "I'm sorry, Mister Masters, but I'll have to decline. Have a good day." She said, getting up quickly and tightening her grip on her backpack straps to keep focus. She had barely walked two steps when he called out to her.  
"The offer remains open, Miss Marquez. Who knows? One day you might just take it."

Sabrina had a bad taste in her mouth as she kept walking and didn't dare to look back.

...

It was four in the morning when the deafening noise of a chopper flying too close to the buildings woke the entire goddamn neighborhood up.

Still in her uniform and groggily standing up from her desk, Sabrina waddled to her window to see what was causing the commotion. Neighbors were poking their heads out of their windows and some brave ones were getting out of their houses and apartment buildings. Sabrina changed into the Ghost Thief and flew through the ceiling, staying invisible in order to analyze the annoyance up close without being noticed.

As the Ghost Thief flew closer, she was able to make out the writing on the helicopter. _DALV Industries._

The Ghost Thief remained invisible as the helicopter just hovered there, not moving. _Very suspicious? Yes. On purpose?_ _Definitely_. She flew even closer, concentrating on remaining undetected as she tried to see the pilot and if possible the passengers. Sabrina was not at all surprised to see Vlad Masters in the passenger seat. He was searching the sky with a strange device, he focused on the exact spot she was floating and grinned like the Cheshire cat; he had been looking for the Ghost Thief and he'd found her. Sabrina thought of the reasons he would be looking for the Ghost Thief, but was cut short by an energy blast shot at her from the hand of Vlad Masters.

 _If that's how you want to do this, then let the game begin._

Speeding up, the Ghost Thief flew around the city, going as fast as she could in circles, up, down, sideways, through the underground and over the clouds. It was an old and overused strategy, but it was one of the best ones - it confused the enemy and gave her a chance to either escape or make them follow her into the Ghost Zone. The helicopter had flown away, but following her was a ghost that looked like the ghost version of Dracula. His skin was a blue-ish green, eyes are red, black hair in two high and pointy ends, and wearing a white cape. _So_ that's _how Vlad's ghost form looks like. Ouch. Were you having a costume party when you walked into a portal?_ Focusing again, the Thief realized she was at the mouth of the Rio de La Plata. Good, that meant that if a fight took place, no one was stupid or close enough to see the fight and get hurt.

Vlad and the Ghost Thief faced each other in midair, both scowling.

"It's four in the morning, _soberano hijo de la gran puta,_ what the fuck do you want?" She said, hands on her hips to channel her best _tired and exasperated grandma who has no time for your bullshit_ pose.  
Vlad looks her up and down, hands linked behind his back, analyzing and assessing. "You're the Ghost Thief?" He asks - but not out of curiosity. He knows it's her, he's just waiting for her to give herself away. "The one who can fool every security system ever created?"  
The Ghost Thief smirks, eyes glowing. "That depends, who's asking?"  
He gets tired of the game pretty quickly, scowling. "Drop the act, Miss Marquez. I know it's you."  
She drops the smirk as well. "Same thing, Mister Masters. Again, what do you want?"  
"Your assistance with something and formidable compensation for it."  
 _Why the fuck would a billionaire ghost need my help? What for? Steal something from an enemy? Test out security measures?_ "What exactly do you want me to do?"

Vlad flies closer, trapping her again. She can't risk a fight - this guy has been a halfa for longer than she's been alive, meaning he could easily beat her and she really didn't feel like dying or hiding any more suspicious injuries. "What do you think about a partnership?" It sounds fake. It's _definitely_ fake. You don't come asking if you're the girl who can cheat security systems and then offer a partnership like those two are interrelated. Especially when you have the exact same fucking abilities and even more years of experience.  
"Drop the bullshit, you wouldn't have come all the way here for some dumb ass partnership. _Así que_ I'm going to ask you again and you're going to tell me the truth: _what exactly do you want from me?_ "

"What's your opinion on murder, Ghost Thief?"

He was hiding something behind his back, a device that he whipped out and pointed at her, releasing a net that fell on her and prevented her from phasing out. She couldn't even protest before he pressed a button and an electric shock ran through the net, shocking her with enough force to

...

"Where do you stand on murder, Miss Marquez?" Vlad asks again as she comes to, handcuffed to a table but instead of regular chains they are impossibly heavy chain-like handcuffs that glowed green with an energy that drained her. She tried using telekinesis or turning intangible but got shocked in return, grinding her teeth and hissing a string of curses under her breath as the electricity ran through her body and she slumped back on the uncomfortable chair. They are in a lab, but this one doesn't feel like the Martinez or the Fenton labs. This one is lined with inventions that look more like torture devices and weaponry than chemistry. The technology looks brand new, it probably is, and way more advanced than she is ever seen. Vlad wasn't kidding when he said "state of the art" equipment. But that still didn't mean she would work for him. If anything it made him the next target on her list of pending robberies.

"That a lot of people have it coming for them." She says, glaring at him and stating the obvious. "And that it's not that hard, especially with ghost powers."

Vlad sighs, as if it hurts him. "I know, but it gets so complicated when you are constantly being watched and carefully monitored." Sabrina has a pretty good idea of who he's talking about, but she puts on her best confused expression, forcing him to explain. "My arch-enemy, Jack Fenton, stole the love of my life after my devastating accident with the first ghost portal back in college. Unfortunately, their son, Daniel - he's the second half-ghost hybrid, you'll meet him one day - keeps choosing his idiot father over a good future with me and I can't do anything without him immediately pointing his finger at me." Sabrina took advantage of his monologue by inspecting the handcuffs, looking for the keyhole. Once she found it, she looked down into her breast pocket to see if she had anything she could pick the lock with. Nothing _._ Sabrina fidgeted uncomfortably under the weight of the chains when she suddenly felt something cold and pointy stabbing her at the waist. Then she remembered: a paperclip. She had to sew back her skirt's fastenings and had been using a paperclip as a temporary replacement. _Thank God for broken fastenings._

"And I just can't have that when I'm trying to make his mom realize that I'm the one she's meant to be with." He mopes, like he's a sad little puppy. Like she's supposed to feel sorry for him. "Which is when you come in." Sabrina didn't break eye contact as slipped out the clip with one hand and got to work, straightening it and inserting it into the slot. "Daniel doesn't know you, meaning you can easily do away with Jack Fenton posing as a random dangerous ghost; I sweep in to vanquish you and be the hero; I get the love of my life and the son I always wanted with me. And in return you could get anything you could possibly want. A well equipped lab with your own personal ghost portal, gadgets, samples, funding, whatever you need: all yours. All in return of a helping hand. What do you say?"

"I'd need some time to think about it." Sabrina's having a hard time with the handcuffs, so she instigates him to keep him talking. "Why should I work with you? You're just another sad man who got blue balls when the girl he crushed on didn't return his feelings and is still bitter over it after two decades." _Almost there...almost there..._  
"She was the love of my life and that bumbling moron took her away from while I was in a coma!" He shouts, almost making Sabrina flinch. Almost. _La puta madre que te lo re mil pario_ _,_ he sounds like a creepy douche in a terrible old movie. _The girl I've been obsessed with doesn't find me attractive, so everyone must give me what I want or suffer terribly!_ Vlad takes a deep breath and regains his posture. "But you can forget about that, it doesn't concern you. What do you say?"

Sabrina resisted the urge to smirk as the lock gave way and the hold was loosened. With high hopes, Sabrina localized the controls of the portal and used telekinesis to push the "open" button. The sound of the portal opening behind her was music to her ears. _Oh wait, you actually think that I'm going to accept this? Hell no._ "That pigs like you deserve to spend the rest of their lives rotting alone. I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but even I can't pull off that lie - I seriously hope we never cross paths again - _hasta nunca._ " And with that Sabrina took off, not looking back as she flew into the Ghost Zone.

Vlad glared at the discarded chains and grumbled. "Note to self: improve locks on ecto-traps." He closes the portal and decides that one lone _porteña_ isn't going to derail his plans. " _"Pigs like you deserve to rot alone",_ he says, mocking her accent, "I'm the most amiable person in existence thank you very much." The lights go off, leaving the lab in complete darkness save for the unnatural light of ectoplasm samples and Vlad's ghost eyes.

"Until we meet again, Miss Marquez."

...

Back in Buenos Aires, Sabrina became visible and landed softly on her bed, letting out a deep sigh and a grunt as she sat up and tried to swallow away the bad taste in her mouth. _Que mierda de día. But at least it's over now._ Sabrina got up and walked down the stairs to the kitchen where she proceeded to make herself some _vigilantes_ and put the kettle on the stove.

Sitting down at the kitchen table with a mate in hand, Sabrina turned on the radio and tuned it to a quiet station to act as background noise as she enjoyed her own peace and solitude after what seemed like an eternity of trouble. Finally no ghosts or humans. The sun was rising when she took a final sip of mate, finished the last _vigilante_ and decided to catch at least an hour or so of sleep before facing another day.

On the way she caught herself thinking about the business offer from Vlad Masters, and smirking it off just as quickly, thinking about how many dollars she could steal from him without him noticing. Phasing through her bedroom door, Sabrina changed into her pajamas before jumping into bed without a single protest from her body and sinking beneath the blankets.

Sabrina was so tired that as she drifted away to sleep, she didn't notice that this time it was the open book next to her bed that had began to levitate.

* * *

 **Glossary/Translations:**

 **"Que mierda de día": "What a shitty day"**

 **Medialunas: delicious treats that are similar to croissants**

 **"Hasta nunca": "See you never"**

 **"Ahora si me disculpa-": "Now if you'll excuse me-"**

 **"Millo" (short for "Millonario"): used to degrade someone with a lot of money**

 **(postre) vigilante: a slice of cheese with sweet potato or quince jam on top. Named after police watchmen in the early 20th century who (supposedly) ate this during their shifts**

 **"soberano hijo de la gran puta": you son of a fucking bitch**

 **porteño/porteña: someone from Buenos Aires**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: nothing that was on the show belongs to me, it belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **Before the chapter begins, just to clear up: whatever is not mentioned remains unchanged from the episode, the only events/aspects that change are the ones written in this chapter.**

 **Reign Storm**

"That Vlad did what?!"

Danny had barged into the lab that morning while she was doing some tests - having skipped school by pretending to be sick in order to finish them. After the shock of seeing her working there wore off, he started explaining his situation. Long story short, Vlad had freed Pariah Dark, an evil ultra-powerful Ghost King that had kicked all the ghosts (including the ones that hated Danny) out of their lairs, causing them to invade Amity Park - and was going to conquer the Ghost Zone _and_ the Human World unless they stopped him.

"Please, Sabrina, if we don't work together and stop him then who knows how many innocent people are gonna suffer-"  
"Daniel, _me chupa tres huevos_ if Amity Park gets burned to the ground. As soon as you go back into the Ghost Zone I'm shutting off the portal and if necessary destroying it so that whatever war is happening in there, doesn't affect me or my city. If Vlad caused it then he can solve it himself!" She sentenced, but Danny continued.  
"You are ten times cleverer than me and you know how Vlad thinks - you are the best shot I have at figuring out his plans."  
"That's not entirely true - we have very similar _modus operandi:_ "I get what I want by any means necessary and to hell with everyone else". But at least I didn't, I don't know, try to bribe a teenager into killing someone and then kidnap her when she refused." She says the last part sarcastically, baring her teeth at the memory and Daniel.  
Now it was his turn to be surprised. "He asked you to do what now?"  
"He wanted to me kill Jack Fenton so he could have your mom." Danny backs away, suspicious. "I said no, _boludo._ I would never murder someone for a ghost portal. There are easier, less bloody ways to get one."  
"But you _would_ murder someone if you wanted to?"  
Sabrina shrugs. She's never considered it and now isn't really the time to question her morals or level of emotional detachment. "Anyway, back to your problem: since whatever is happening there doesn't concern me, I am _not_ getting involved." Sabrina said, cutting him short and refusing to answer to more. "And if Pariah Dark is really advancing on your beloved hometown, shouldn't you be there, protecting it, instead of here, on the other end of the continent, trying to convince me to fight in a war that's not mine to fight in?"

Reluctantly, Danny decided to leave and Sabrina opened the portal for him. "Will you at least think about it?" He asked one last time, Sabrina just shook her head no. "Please? I thought we were supposed to be allies."  
"Remember what we agreed to? I can refuse your calls for help." Sabrina reminded him. Danny was almost in the Ghost Zone when she had an idea and stopped him in his tracks. "If you die in a fight - will your next of kin mind if I perform an autopsy on your dead body?"  
"What - no!" Horrified, he flew into the Ghost Zone without looking back - leaving Sabrina to chuckle to herself as she closed the portal behind him. _That should keep him away...unless he becomes truly desperate enough to ask for my help again._

But as she went back to work, Sabrina couldn't stop thinking about the situation in the Ghost Zone. _Maybe - no. I'm not fighting against the fucking_ Ghost King _: a ghost that could probably reduce me to ashes in a matter of milliseconds. But if he does_ _conquer the Ghost Zone, then how long until he finds out about halfas? What is he going to do? Hunt the three of us down? Kill us? Enslave us? What happens to the human world if he takes power? The Fenton Portal and Vlad's portal are still operational, if he uses them as gateways into the human world then Amity Park, Wisconsin, and most likely everything around it will also be under his rule...this is one of the times in which I really reconsider my ties to the Ghost Zone and its inhabitants._

Sabrina stopped thinking and decided to go downstairs to stretch her legs and breath in some fresh air, preferably one that didn't smell faintly of ectoplasm, bleach, and strong chemicals. She met López with a box of pastries on her way out as she hung her lab coat. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He said right before Sabrina used telekinesis to make one of the pastries fly into her hand and took a bite.  
"I'm also supposed to be dead, but I guess that didn't go as planned either." Sabrina replied with her mouth full. She held the pastry with her teeth as she put on her coat and scarf, but that didn't stop her from summoning another pastry, eliciting a "hey!" from López. "Thanks! I'll be up in a couple of minutes." She called.

It was late June and so it was cold outside, but that didn't bother her; what _did_ bother Sabrina were her thoughts and newly resurfaced conscience.

 _People could die.  
That's what people do.  
Yes, but you could stop a lot of them from happening.  
No, that's what? An entire army plus the Ghost King?  
It's a town that will suffer from very traumatic events and the aftermath of them.  
So will I and they live in a town where the two most competent ghost hunters are two teenagers, they are doomed anyways_. _They don't need me to intervene.  
But what about the - STOP. BASTA. _Sabrina silenced her thoughts, this time for good, and took a deep breath. _Get back to work, keep your mind out of things that don't concern you._ Cool and (somewhat) controlled, Sabrina almost ran back to the lab, where López was now going over some samples and Mandel was working on the designs for an upgraded portal.

" _Buenos días._ Good morning." She said as she put on her lab coat again and went back to her work. Mandel looked back, surprised to see her there.  
"Aren't you supposed to be in-"  
"School? Why is it that you are all suddenly concerned about my education? And besides, as far as my parents and my teachers know, I'm sick in bed with a fever. Are you going to call them?" Sabrina said before going closer to the portal and signalling Mandel to pay attention to what she was saying. "We do, however, have a problem with our dearest neighboring dimension and its fucking inhabitants."  
"What? A ghost or the Guys in White causing trouble?" López suggested from his worktable, Sabrina gave him an annoyed look and he went back to his work.  
"Even worse. There's a war going on in there and ghosts are escaping every way they can. Amity Park has been invaded by ghosts, according to Daniel, so it won't be long until they start crowding at our portal - we need to figure out a way to make this portal impossible to pass through." She explained to Mandel as he went over the key parts of the portal to check they were fine and working.  
"Well, I fixed the last malfunction, so that won't be a problem. As long as we keep the portal closed, no ghosts can pass through."  
"I hope so. You never know with ghosts." Sabrina admitted, crossing her arms as she examined the portal closely. "You know, sometimes I wonder why the government hasn't come knocking on the door demanding that we shut down or destroy the portal." She thought out loud. At this Mandel gave her a strange look but shrugged his shoulders.  
"They have, but then they remember that we are the only Argentine group that is actively studying ghosts - all the others are in the U.S or somewhere else that doesn't give three shits about what happens to us." López said.  
"True." Sabrina agreed. "Anyways, back to the civil war that might break out in the Ghost Zone. So - Mandel, anything we can do to reinforce the portal to make sure we don't have to deal with a wave of ghost refugees."

Toledo called in sick and the three remaining members of the Portal Project crew spent the rest of the morning working on the portal.

...

The second time Danny came to the portal he had the decency to knock. A little too loudly.

"SabriNA! SaBRINA! SABRINA!" The three Argentinians were more than unwilling to open the portal after spending nearly three hours working to make it as ghost proof as they could. But seeing that Danny must have been truly desperate to come to ask for her help again, Sabrina growled a string of colorful curses under her breath as she opened the portal and Danny Phantom came flying through.

Before he could open his mouth, she cut him short. "I already told you I'm not fighting, and when I say _"_ _NO"_ it doesn't mean _"keep bothering me until I say yes,"_ Daniel." Sabrina stated.  
Danny looked tired and defeated, and it almost made Sabrina feel sorry for him. Almost. "Look, I know you're not going to fight the Ghost King, so I'm not gonna ask you to. I need you to lead a ghost army against the Skeleton Army." Danny begged. _Como si eso fuera más fácil pendejo concha de tu madre-_  
"And what makes you think they are going to follow _me_? If most ghosts are anything like the ones I've encountered - it's every ghost on his own." She reasoned, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.  
"You know how to manipulate them. They aren't going to follow me, no matter what I say. They don't know you, and if you prove it to them that you can make sure they win, then they'll follow you." He said. Sabrina considered it.

 _Yeah, I could do what nearly every revolutionary in human history has done: rally the masses and exploit common weaknesses and fears. Use negative cohesion.  
And then what?  
After you convince them to follow you, you make a battle plan.  
Okay, but what happens if you lose?  
Pariah Dark will take over the Ghost Zone and the human world if he can.  
What happens to _me _?  
A backup plan just in case he wins: I message Mandel and tell him to destroy the portal...even if I'm inside.  
No! If he destroys the portal while I'm still inside then I'm trapped with little to no chance of escaping.  
But if they don't destroy it then Pariah Dark could come to Buenos Aires, and I'll be the cause of it.  
_ _You spent the last month leaving Buenos Aires at the mercy of ghosts and_ now _you are concerned that something bad will happen?  
_ _Because now the danger is imminent and I doubt a fucking ghost invasion will only bring a few murders and robberies._

"Okay okay, let me clear something up first." Sabrina agreed, turning into the Ghost Thief before facing her two co-workers. "If we lose the battle and Pariah Dark takes over, I'll send you a signal and then I want you to destroy the portal, even if I'm still in the Ghost Zone." Sabrina said in all seriousness, and they didn't take it very well.

" _¿Pero es que te volviste loca?_ Have you gone mad? If we destroy the portal..." López said but was cut short by Sabrina's hand.  
"Pariah Dark can't enter this world through here and Buenos Aires isn't destroyed and conquered by a very powerful and very evil king. At least, not immediately. Don't worry, I didn't survive getting electrocuted by the portal to die now. _But,_ if you don't hear from me two days after I sent the signal...it means I either can't leave the Ghost Zone or I've been captured and most likely killed."  
"And if we _do_ hear from you before two days pass?" Mandel asked.  
"Then that means I've managed to escape and currently taking the long route here - that means I'm flying all the way here from Amity Park."  
"You are going to fly across the continent non-stop!?"  
"I'll make stops in several countries." Sabrina added. They got it, and Sabrina hesitated for a minute before hugging both of them goodbye. "Keep working on my research, will you? And if my parents come asking questions: make something up, I don't want any of you facing jail time for something that's mostly my fault."  
Mandel nodded. "Don't die, _ratita_. The last thing we need is your ghost haunting us."

And then both ghost hybrids went into the portal and, reluctantly, Mandel closed it shut behind them.

...

Danny had gone to set something straight with Vlad, which left Sabrina with Sam, a Goth and an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian _(whatever the hell that is)_ , and Tucker, Danny's best friends, in the Fenton Speeder. "So, how are we going to get all the ghosts in one place? I thought they all hated you." She asked them as they surveyed the Ghost Zone area that was closest to the Fenton Portal.  
"This speeder has an asset similar to the Fenton Thermos, it sucks ghosts into a chamber they can't escape from." Tucker explained as he and Sam piloted the speeder, collecting ghosts as they went.

A ghost with flaming blue hair and some weird eyeliner came into view and she was sucked in. Same with a white ghost wearing a fedora, a plump one in overalls, the mechanical nightmare, a wimpy nerd, a dragon, and an old lady with a hair net. They were all sucked into the speeder with various shouts of complain and indignation. As they did so, Sam and Tucker filled her in about the Ghost King - how he had ascended to power, how he was defeated long ago, the two artifacts he needed to achieve ultimate power.  
"Good luck convincing them." Sam said. The Ghost Thief nodded, took a deep breath to prepare herself and phased through the back of the speeder's cockpit and into the chamber where all the ghosts were being held.

Inside it was a little cramped, but the ghosts didn't seem to mind. It was the first time the halfa had seen so many ghosts in one place, being civil to each other. _The enemy of my enemy is my friend_. The ghosts talked to each other hurriedly, some with worry evident in their tones and others faking confidence.

The Ghost Thief cleared her throat loudly and all eyes were on her. "If I could have your attention please."  
"Who are you and what do you want?" The mechanical nightmare (Skulker?) asked.  
"I'm just a ghost girl. But I have a plan that will ensure that we win over Pariah Dark." She proposed and that sure got their attention, making them leer closer.  
"And why should we trust you?" The ghost girl with the strange eyeliner questioned, giving her a cold look.

 _Here goes the award-winning Battle Speech that definitely wasn't based on that speech from Braveheart._ "You don't have to trust _me_ immediately. But you can trust that with my plan, we'll not only win, but make sure that bastard never wakes up again." Now there were murmurs of agreement and some small cheers. "Pariah Dark has kicked you out of your lairs, your homes, and now he's planning to make you his slaves - but if we fight _together_ , we are going to make Pariah Dark wish he was never released; we are going to show him that this time he will not win! Once the Battle of Ghosts is over, you'll gain back everything that was taken from you! Who's with me?!"

The murmurs turned into cries of war and demands for Pariah Dark to fall down.

...

Sabrina had only been to Amity Park once and during that one time she had only been in the Fenton basement, but right now the town was a war zone.

Many buildings were destroyed, stores were ravaged, and there was chaos all around. Amity Park had been encircled by a green dome of energy - not a ghost shield - that originated from a flaming sword stuck in the American football field where Vlad and Danny were fighting. Danny and Vlad kept shouting at each other as they went on fighting. Fire and dodge and fire some more. Sabrina made it her life goal to not intervene unless necessary, and now she had bigger things to worry about than a squabble between two archenemies. And then Danny decided to retire the sword, triggering a chain of events that Sabrina would most likely hold against him for the rest of their lives.

"Goddammit Daniel." The Ghost Thief changed back to Sabrina Marquez and stayed on the ground. _Better to have the Ghost King ignoring my existence by pretending I'm a mere human._ The Ghost King and a knight on fire _(the sword must belong to him)_ watched over the scene as Skeleton Soldiers entered the field. The sword flew out of Danny's hand and to its rightful owner.

The dome disintegrated and the green sky and purple doors of the Ghost Zone appeared. Amity Park was in the Ghost Zone now. _Well fuck._

Sabrina took a good look at Pariah Dark and swallowed hard. _I have to fight against_ that. _Nope. No no no no no no no no no._ Terror seized her up and froze her still as she watched. _I'm going to have nightmares about this for the rest of my life, aren't I? And to think that I considered my old nightmares scary._ Pariah Dark noticed Phantom and Plasmius and shot a giant red ectoplasmic blast out of his hands, hitting both of them and making them fall to the ground. He must have hit them hard, because on the ground Danny Fenton and Vlad Masters were not moving and showing scratches and bruises. Pariah Dark grabbed them both into his hand and laughed. "They are ghosts _and_ humans? Does this day of fun never end?" He mused before being interrupted by a missile.

Sabrina looked up and saw a teenager in a red suit, sliding atop a some sort of hoverboard. _Enter the Red Huntress, one of the most capable ghost hunters in this town._ And then the Red Huntress slammed into a pole. _You know what? This town is doomed..._ The Red Huntress got up and tried to fire a small missile from her wrist, but it didn't go as planned. The ghost hunter took off her glove and Pariah Dark saw the ring and bellowed. "That's my ring! Hand it over, human." The Red Huntress understood and took the ring off, putting it on the tip of a missile _. Please no, for fuck's sake. YOU DON'T HAND THE POWER-ENHANCING RING TO THE KING WHO HAS CONQUERED YOUR GODDAMN HOMETOWN! DOES ANYONE IN THIS FUCKING TOWN HAVE ANY COMMON SENSE?! I swear to God, Vladimir Masters, that you are never going to live this down - ever._ The Red Huntress fired the missile with the ring but Sabrina foiled her plans by summoning the ring to her hand before Pariah Dark or the Knight could get it.

Pariah Dark went after the ring but the Knight was determined to keep fighting. _He is disobeying his boss - well that's a very obvious weakness to exploit._ The Huntress picked up the unconscious halfas by their wrists and hurried to Fenton Works, to the safety of the expanding ghost shield, with Sabrina following close behind. The knight kept hitting the shield with his sword until he finally relented and flew away to join his King, but this time Sabrina heard an angry grunt and an order being given. "We don't need the ring. Come, we have plans to make, for soon this human world will _also_ be mine." Sabrina watched as the Red Huntress went through Danny's window and didn't come out.

The glowing ring in her hand was starting to burn, so Sabrina opened her palm and examined it. It looked simple enough, glowing green metal with a red skull in the center with no recognizable precious stones or metals; it was how it _felt_ that threw her off. She felt powerful and unstoppable, like she could take on every bank in the world and rob it blind and get everything she ever wanted. _It enhances your powers, and with them most likely your greed._ That huntress had been wearing it and she hadn't acted particularly malicious, and the ring hadn't glowed when it was on her. _She's human, maybe the ring only enhances powers that are already there, therefore regular humans wouldn't feel anything._

Dragging her thoughts away from the ring, Sabrina stored it her jean's pocket and turned invisible before she flew to Danny's window and was satisfied to see Danny, Vlad, and an African-American girl who must have been the Red Huntress all in there, unconscious. Vlad was starting to wake up and looked around the room before he realized the ring was gone; with indignation, Vlad turned invisible as well and then he was gone. _Must have phased somewhere else, the greedy malicious bastard._ Sabrina phased through the floors to the basement, where Sam and Tucker were talking.

"Danny's been gone for hours, do you think he's okay?" Sam asked Tucker and Sabrina turned visible before responding that herself.  
"He and the Red Huntress are upstairs in Danny's room, and in no condition to fight a mouse let alone the fucking Ghost King and his army." Sam and Tucker jumped as she appeared but recovered quickly.  
"What happened out there?" Suddenly, Sabrina heard somebody going down the stairs and turned invisible out of instinct as two adults clad in HAZMAT suits barged in and said that Danny was upstairs in his room. As the two teenagers rushed upstairs to their friend, Sabrina took advantage of the fact that she was already invisible and flew up and away and headed into the Ghost Zone. She had agreed with the ghosts that had been in the Speeder that they would meet in an unoccupied lair in the depths of the Ghost Zone, where Pariah Dark and his troops hadn't gotten to. Once she was in the Ghost Zone and away from Amity Park, Sabrina turned into the Ghost Thief and picked up speed.

She had a battle to plan.

...

The ghosts were all standing in a semicircle around a hologram map of the area around Pariah's Keep when the Ghost Thief arrived. There were respectful nods as she passed and total silence as she stood in front of them, where she could see and address everyone. The Ghost Thief started muttering to herself as she analyzed what she had seen in Amity Park to asses the strengths and weaknesses of the Skeleton Army and the Knight and Pariah Dark.

"The Skeleton Army, judging from what I saw in Amity Park, are all under a collective hive mind, meaning they are under the control of a higher ranking officer. Probably that knight that is always with Pariah Dark..."  
"The Fright Knight." The ghost in the fedora, Walker, clarified. "He's the Ghost King's lieutenant. He is the Army General."  
"Which means that the Ghost King, powerful and all, doesn't have the best strategical mind. And from the attack on Amity Park, neither does the Fright Knight. They are both very powerful ghosts that could probably vaporize all of us in seconds with an army of thousands. But the way they attacked the town, disorganized and random, a "barge-in-and-hope-for-the-best" plan that you'd only consider if you knew you were up against cockroaches you _knew_ you could crash. They don't know to properly organize..." The idea clicked in her mind, forming up a plan that would not - _could not_ \- fail.

"You are lucky I'm your Army General. So listen up! I know how to defeat them. Get all your weapons and ammunition ready, they are going to pay for what they did to you."

There were cheers and war cries and for the first time in a long time, Sabrina felt something like responsibility pressing on her chest.

...

This time ready and willing, Sam and Tucker sucked all the fully-armed ghosts into the speeder. "Everything ready?" Sabrina asked them as Tucker checked the controls. She was staying in her human form until the battle began to save up her energies - but she took advantage of the time by getting familiar with the ghost weaponry.  
"Yup. Those ghosts won't know what hit 'em." He said, signalling to several ecto-guns and Fenton weapons.

 _It would be nice to have at least one weapon in that can hurt ghosts back at home, I'm sure one gun won't be missed._ As if offended that she would choose another weapon over it, the ring in her pocket warmed up in anger. _Para de mangear anillo del orto_ _, the minute this whole ordeal is over I'm burying you in deepest, darkest corner of the Ghost Zone where no one will ever find you again._ As they approached the Keep, Sabrina saw the legion of soldiers fighting Danny in a mechanical suit; Danny took notice of his best friends in the speeder and told them that it was too dangerous, to which they just shrugged off and let the ghosts loose. Sabrina changed into the Ghost Thief and phased through the Speeder.

"ATTACK!"

To say that it was pandemonium would be an understatement.

The Ghost Thief dodged another skeleton's sword before blasting him and two more besides him up. With every strong blast, she felt weaker and weaker. Sabrina knew she was a weak ghost, but this was ridiculous. Trying to ignore her lack of physical power, Sabrina kept fighting the only way she knew how to: by trickery. She manipulated a Skeleton Warrior's sword to cut down his comrades closest to him and then himself. A skeleton attacked from behind and slashed her back and the Ghost Thief shot it, disintegrating it. _Looks like I'll have to fight with strength then. Fuck._ It felt like she had been fighting for an eternity - she lost count of the slashes and wounds all over her body, the number of skeletons she'd obliterated, she focused on nothing more than staying alive and in one piece. _Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting._

And then an explosion from inside the Keep stopped everything in its tracks.

Simultaneously, all the Skeleton Warriors vanished and the ghosts hurried to the Keep to see what was going down, Sabrina following suit. _But first._ Just to be sure, Sabrina checked the pouch to make sure the ring was there. _If Vlad was so desperate to get it, then he's not having it._ The ghosts parted to let her pass as she walked towards the center of the chamber, where Danny looked like he was ready to drop dead. Vlad had a key in his hand, he'd locked the Sarcophagus. _Somebody please take the key from him._ "How?" Danny weakly asked Vlad.  
"Using two fourteen-year-old pawns and a knight to topple a king. It's chess." Vlad answered before Danny passed out from the effort. _Ay ay ay, Daniel._

As Sam and Tucker took Danny back to his house, the ghosts stayed behing to discuss what should be done with the key, the ring, and the crown. Vlad stepped forward, but Sabrina cut him off immediately. "Give me three good reasons why we shouldn't vanish you, Plasmius. If you're going to unlock another ancient evil then you'll have to go through me first."  
Vlad glared at her and declared, "this isn't over, Miss Marquez" before flying away - probably to his mansion to plot his revenge. There was an agreement that the Crown of Fire would be given to the Ghostfire Spirits - a noble race of military ghosts with fire abilities led by the Ghostfire Queen - and the Skeleton Key and the Ring of Rage (if found) would be given to Clockwork, the Ghost of Time and the most morally righteous ghost in the Ghost Zone.

Ghosts started leaving, going off to celebrate that Pariah Dark was imprisoned and that they would get to terrorize the human world in peace again. _The human world...the lab!_ Quickly, Sabrina took out her cellphone and message López. _"We won! I'll be there soon."_ When the message was sent, Sabrina stored the cellphone back in her pouch with the ring. Her forearm suddenly started burning and Sabrina turned around to see a strange ghost floating still, as if expecting her.

The ghost's appearance constantly shifted, going from a broad-shouldered adult to a wrinkled old man to a chubby toddler - but always with the same blue skin, purple cloak, and scar around his red eyes, and always carrying a staff that looked like it was from a high fantasy movie. "Who are you?" Sabrina asked, going into a defensive stance, just in case.  
"I am Clockwork, Ghost of Time." He presented himself with a respectful nod. Sabrina returned the gesture. "And you, General, have something that I should be locking up." Sabrina understood and, with surprising hesitance, handed him the ring. "Yes, the Ring of Rage has that effect on ghosts: once you have it, you become attached to the power, whether you want to or not. But I must say, the leadership and strategic intelligence you showed today will not be forgotten by those you led."  
"And to think that I wanted to stay away from all of this."  
"Neutrality is all you've ever known, but what you managed today is something very few ghosts have achieved." He is silent for a second, as if considering something. "There will be other catastrophes, other dire situations where the General will have to take the reins again." He turns to leave and delivers one final warning. "There are still things you don't know yet, Sabrina Marquez. Tread carefully." And with that he was gone, leaving a slightly terrified Ghost Thief alone.

 _Okay then...I'll just head back home and try to hide the more obvious scratches before my parents discover them._ She walked to the edge of the island and picked up a helmet from a Skeleton Warrior had been left behind. _Maybe this is_ real _ghost bone and we can examine it back at the lab, and if it doesn't hail any useful information then it remains a spoil of war._ Relief flooding her senses, the Ghost Thief flew up and away back to her portal, and knocked after seeing it closed. "Mandel! López! _Alguien_!" She called before the portal opened and she flew in to find the engineer and the biologist waiting for her, clapping and cheering. Doctor Martinez was also there - but he was panicking.

"What were you thinking, Miss Marquez?! Throwing yourself into a _war_ like that?! Look at yourself! You look like you went through a shredder! _Ay dios mio._ The fact you are somewhat _alive_ is a miracle of science, would _staying_ alive be too much to ask?" Martinez cried out in a desperate tone, mumbling to himself about more terrible things that could have happened.  
"Martinez! _Martinez!_ " Finally getting his attention, the Ghost Thief looked him straight in the eye as she changed back into Sabrina Marquez.

Most of the small scratches had downright vanished, and those that were deep enough to draw blood were slightly less deep than they were before. None of them looked or felt infected - so Sabrina figured she could treat them back at her house without any worries besides getting caught. The worn jeans and red long-sleeved t-shirt she'd been wearing under her lab coat were littered with slashes and semi-solid ectoplasm - nothing that a good wash along with a needle, thread, and patches couldn't fix - some of the green goo even finding its way onto her hair.

"I don't think any of these wounds are serious - I can take care of them at home. After that I just need a shower, a lot of food, a shot of vodka, and some good hours of sleep on my bed instead of midair."  
"I'm glad you're not dead, _ratita_." Mandel said before noticing the helmet in her hands and picking it up with interest. "And hello you."  
"Me too. And I believe leading a battle against an army of thousands qualifies as a good enough reason to leave early." Sabrina said as she put on her hoodie and pulled the hood up to hide the green substance in her hair. _Hopefully semi-solid ectoplasm is not toxic, can be washed off easily and won't damage my hair more than it already is._ Sabrina said goodbye and walked out of the Martinez Laboratories, lacking the energy to phase through a wall, let alone fly to her house.

It would have been nice to walk home for once if it hadn't been for the pain that lit up with every step. Bearable, but annoying. It was still cold outside in the streets, but that didn't stop the Friday afternoon mood as children got out of school and some workers managed to get out of their jobs early. Seeing humans after spending the past hours surrounded by ghosts, thinking about ghosts, and _being_ a ghost made the human world with its human quirks and its human flaws so comforting and familiar. She was opening the gate when her cellphone rang and Nico's contact appeared on the screen, making her pick up. "Nico! _Que tal la vida sin mi?_ "

Nico sounded cheerful from the other end of the line, like a little kid on Christmas. He was up to something. "Horrible. How was the lab?"  
"Exhausting. Did you all crash and burn without me?"  
"Of course we did, we are a bunch of rats in a school uniform. Listen, some guys from fourth year organized a pre and are willing to let us drink if we pay a little extra and get IDs. If you are up to it maybe we can have some drinks and then go to Mandarin."

Sabrina dropped her backpack and coat on a kitchen chair as she gave it some thought and immediately reached the conclusion that she couldn't go. For starters she still had visible and very open wounds and couldn't wear anything remotely appropriate for a night club and she didn't feel like dealing with large groups of people after today. "How about instead of paying extra to some older jerks I get some free Fernet and Vodka from the _viejas_ next door and you bring the snacks?" She moves her shoulder the wrong way and a sharp but short sting makes her hiss. "I'll have to pass on the dancing, though. Sorry."  
" _Yeesh_ , that bad? No problem. Is a dozen _medialunas_ enough for both of us?"  
"Make it one dozen plus half a dozen of _bolas de fraile._ "  
"Done. See you in two hours. _Chau._ "  
" _Chau._ " Hanging up, Sabrina took a long shower and took care of the more serious wounds so that they would pass unnoticed.

Only then did she go next door and ask for the alcohol.

* * *

 **This chapter is longer because it's from a Made-for-TV movie, the following chapters will be the normal length.**

 **I know that there are several things that derail from the original story but: A) that's the whole point of fan-fiction, and B) there are scenes that we aren't shown and things we were never told, like what happened to the key, the ring, and the crown after Pariah is defeated, and I refuse to believe that Clockwork wouldn't have _at least_ overseen the battle and where everything of importance (the aforementioned objects) went.**

 **As always: critics, comments, suggestions, and love are welcome either by review or PM.**

 **And the (unusually more colorful) glossary:**

 **Ratita: little (lab)** **rat**

 **Alguien: somebody**

 **"Ay ay ay": (a string of monosyllables used to express disappointment and/or embarrassment)**

 **"Reverendo hijo de la re mil puta": (a _very_ intense way of saying:) son of a bitch**

 **"Para de mangear anillo del orto": "stop whining you fucking ring"**

 **"Como si eso fuera más fácil pendejo concha de tu madre": "as if that was less complicated you useless son of a bitch"**

 **"Me importa tres carajos": "I truly don't care"**

 **"Que tal la vida sin mi?": "How's life without me?"**

 **medialunas: croissants**

 **bolas de fraile: round pastries filled with dulce de leche**

 **viejas: old ladies**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, that belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **Of Angry Ghosts - somewhere shortly after Reign Storm**

Sabrina and Nico could tell something was wrong the second they rushed into the classroom fifteen minutes too late.  
The Hag - real name Mrs. Perez and their Geography teacher - was not there.

 _"Y La Vieja?_ Where's the Hag?" Sabrina asked Iñaqui and Metzger - the two boys who sat in the desk behind hers and Nico's - as they sat down.  
" _Me chupa!_ Free period!" Metzger cried out in joy.

Shrugging it off - after all, the crazy old hag was most likely sick or dealing with something personal or dead, preferably - Nico took out a deck of cards from his backpack. Smirking at the other in agreement, they turned to the two boys and Nico waved the deck. "Are you in for a game of _chinchon_?" Side note: all card games are forbidden on school grounds. Side note to the aforementioned side note: nothing (harmless) is forbidden when teachers aren't around.

The four students were in the middle of their game when the door crashed open and all eyes went to the front of the classroom, where an unfamiliar figure stood.

He was a broad man in his early forties, with black hair, pale-as-a-ghost skin, and a piercing glare; dressed in a white pin-striped shirt and black pants, he looked more like a top secret agent than a teacher. _But they never sent a substitute teacher unless it's for a long period of time, we have free period with our_ preceptor, _so why the sudden change? Maybe he is a ghost-_ And then the man stepped forward and her forearm began to burn, as if to reassure Sabrina that her speculations were correct. _Well fuck. So what now? Wait and see what are his intentions and then do the same dance: trick, manipulate, and then make him fly off to the Ghost Zone and try to figure out why the fuck that portal is always malfunctioning._ The substitute teacher stood tall and stiff with his hands behind his back and surveyed the students - he was inspecting his prey.

He spoke, and even his voice sounded commanding, not too unlike the tone Sabrina had used as the General. "Listen up, you useless pricks. I'm your substitute teacher: Mr. Payne - pronounced _pain_ \- and you'll be referring to me as such, no _"profe"_ and no nicknames, or I will personally oversee your sanction. Am I understood?" He said, eliciting a collective nod from the students. "Good. Now what was the last thing you saw with your teacher, and don't even consider lying because _I will know_." A girl in the back raised her hand shakily and said that they had left off at the beginning of the Demographics chapter. Mr. Payne nodded and grunted, and started pacing around the room as he started the lesson.

 _From which boot camp did he come from and why did he choose_ this _school_ _and_ this _year_ _and_ this _class? Oh, wait:_ I _am here._ Sabrina came up with a colorful string of curse words in her head while looking like she was paying attention so that Mr. Military Academy didn't call on her. _Maybe he sensed the Ghost Thief/the General. But why go after me? And why go through all the trouble of possessing some random man when he could just barge in and-_ Out of nowhere, Mr. Payne was face to face with Nico, who looked like a terrified deer caught in headlights. Sabrina instinctively backed away, almost falling off her chair but restraining herself from doing or saying anything just in case interfering made the situation worse; she looked under the desk and saw that Nico had been trying to discreetly put his playing cards back in their package before Mr. Payne had interrupted.

"What's your name, boy?" Payne demanded, his look piercing straight into poor Nico's soul. Nico, struggling to find the words at first, managed to let out a small and weak "Nicolás" before shutting up immediately, clearly not trusting his voice, making the fear more evident in his face. The more fearful Nico became, the more evident Mr. Payne's presence became and Sabrina could have sworn that she saw him get taller and buffer. _He is feeding off fear._ "Well, Nicolás, what the hell were you doing? Because I don't recall ever giving you permission to store that deck?" He said in a threatening tone.  
"I-I was just-t putting th-them away, Mr. Payne, sir." Nico stammered, swallowing hard. Sabrina saw her friend's hands gripping half the deck of cards so hard that they were wrinkling and bending under his grip.  
"Pay attention before I throw _you_ out the window and this turns into a forensics lesson." He threatened, then straightened up and continued with his lesson, no one daring to even sneeze. Sabrina couldn't remember the last time her classmates had been _this_ quiet - she could hear the muffled noise and screams from the other classrooms perfectly, something completely unprecedented.

Throughout the remaining of the lesson, Sabrina was tense and ready to fight or flee if necessary - not daring to take her eyes off Payne in fear that he might do something worse than just terrorize her classmates. _He feeds off fear, which means that right now he is probably a starved man in a buffet. But_ _why not go to a psychiatric ward, or to a country torn by war? There are millions of places he could be instead of here - but there is always the chance that he came for me (The Ghost Thief/General)_ The bell pulled her from her thoughts, and students raced to the door to go to the hallway and as far away from Mr. Payne as possible, but were stopped by Mr. Payne standing in front of the door with his arms crossed, glaring down at the poor unfortunate souls that had tried to leave.

"Now where do you all think you are going?" He said as the ones that had tried to leave stepped away in fear. His eyes glowed red and he grinned like a serial killer, several students gasped and some even screamed. Nico latched onto her arm for security and Sabrina focused on the pressure to keep herself grounded. "Nobody is leaving this classroom until you tell me where the General is."

 _La puta madre..._ Now, she had two options: Option A) see if she could manipulate him in any way and convince him that none of them knew who this "General" was. Or Option B) Marquez would have to disappear and the Ghost Thief would make an appearance. And then there was always Option C): ignore the problem until it was aiming right at her. Right there, all of those options sounded terrible. Option A would be way too risky - especially if it meant getting closer to Mr. Payne. Option B was downright impossible because she couldn't get out of the classroom. And Option C was no longer an option.

"No point in hiding, dear General, whichever puny human body you're possessing won't hide you forever. I can sense your power - or should I say your _lack_ of power. Well guess what?" From out of thin air, he produced a glowing green whip with a metal handle. Suddenly, Sabrina began feeling lightheaded and her head was throbbing, the closer the whip got to her, the more the pain increased - _the whip, it must have something, some kind of ghost Kryptonite or something derived from Blood Blossoms_. "You can't win this battle. You're _weak._ You are only a trickster with more wits than strength. I will kick your ass all the way back to the Ghost Zone."

 _What do I do? I can't turn into the Ghost Thief before my classmates, that's suicide and shitting on everything I've done to keep my identity safe - so absolutely not. If I act possessed...no, exhausted ghosts can't possess someone for long periods of time, let alone when exposed to whatever he has in that whip. Mr. Payne will figure it's all a trick and that I'm the third halfa. The weakest and less experienced hybrid.  
No. NO. If I've managed not to kill the half of me that is still alive with only my powers and my wits, then I can beat him with those as well._

Mr. Payne, having grown tired of the General not presenting herself, grunted and lashed out the whip and with it, his frustration - hitting a spot too close to Sabrina, thus making the pain almost unbearable. "Fine, if you're going to be a coward and hide inside a human, then so be it! The later you show up, the more prepared I will be. But consider yourself warned, come looking for me in the sewers at sundown - should you fail to attend or be too frightened to do so, I'll go looking for you, and then if - no, _when_ you lose the fight - I will make sure this wretched hive of a city falls down with you!"

And with that he was gone, leaving behind 32 traumatized students in his wake.

"WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" Nico cried out, letting go of her arm and voicing the thoughts of the class. Having Mr. Payne shouting in his face had left him traumatized enough, and the last scene only made it worse. The murmurs around the classroom increased as they wondered what the ghost had been talking about.

"Who is the "General" and what did he (or she or whatever) do that Payne (or whatever) is so desperate to fight he (or whatever)?"  
"What is it that ghosts have with us?! First the _Hombre de la Bolsa_ and now _this..._!"  
"Dude, this time it's definitely an alien." "Say alien one more time and you're never watching the X-Files again, _pibe_."  
"Maybe he was a torturer for the dictatorship in '76, and now he's come back to get revenge..."  
"Wait...does that mean that one of us is being possessed by a ghost..."

That possibility lingered in the air as friends and desk-mates looked at each other suspiciously. Sabrina looked around as well, looking as distraught and shocked that one of their own was being overshadowed by a possibly malevolent spirit. Good thing that to her lying is second nature and she could deceive just about anyone.

Their assigned _preceptor,_ Faustino, came to see what the commotion was about _this time_ and was surprised to see his class more rambunctious and certainly more distressed than usual. " _Chicos, calmense._ Guys, calm down. Why is that you all look like you've seen a ghost?" _Oh the irony would be hilarious, but now is not the best time,_ Sabrina thought as the class retold what had happened, with varying aspects being exaggerated or diminished. At the end of the story, when they got to part that maybe one of them was possessed, Faustino laughed in their faces and said there couldn't have been a ghost in the school. " _Chicos,_ we installed a ghost alarm two weeks ago - if there had been a ghost in the building, we would have known. But if it makes you feel better, I'll check the alarm."

Of course, unbeknownst to the school administration: that ghost alarm had been tampered with and was currently not working.  
And unbeknownst to the school administration: the Ghost Thief was entirely to blame.

Faustino shook his head in disbelief and left the classroom - only to come back five minutes later with a defeated expression on his face. "The security guard has just informed me that the ghost alarm is broken and that there was a ghost detected about an hour and a half ago. I'm really sorry, chicos."  
 _"_ Do we get the rest of the week off as compensation?!"  
 _"Pero que se piensan?_ You get the rest of the day off because the technician will have to do a full sweep of the school. Nothing more."

The students cheered, Mr. Payne forgotten as groups of friends starting making plans for lunch. Nico invited Sabrina over to his apartment to make up for the last post-attack lunch. "Mom made _pastel de papa_ yesterday and there's plenty leftover."  
"Sure, not like I was planning on eating another of my mom's _empanadas_ for the third time this week."  
"But it's Monday."  
"Precisely."

Sabrina continued joking and making sarcastic comments so that she could think about something that wasn't Payne or the impending fight.

...

Sundown had never come quicker.

Sabrina had gone to the lab after lunch to prepare for the confrontation with Payne. If she couldn't trick or manipulate him - then she would have to fight him with her other most valuable set of skills: science. _Thank God for Molotov cocktails, chemical bombs, and the Martinez Laboratories for having everything I need at my disposal._ While she was working on her stash of weapons, Sabrina explained what had happened to her coworkers and what to do just in case she lost the fight.

"Payne is angry with me - meaning that to the city as a whole he's an average ghost threat. So, the same terms from last time stand. If Payne manages to kill the half of me that is currently alive: please keep my body as _faaaar_ away from any ghost hunters as possible and say whatever you have to to keep yourselves out of jail."  
Toledo nodded as she helped her with the concoction she was making. "Do you have any idea _why_ this ghost is angry at you?"  
"My best bet is that he was siding with Pariah Dark when he emerged - he did refer to me as The General and not the Ghost Thief or Sabrina Marquez. And he did seem kinda hellbent into "kicking my weak ass back to the Ghost Zone" - I guess he wasn't too happy that I led the battle against his favorite candidate's army."  
"Sounds like a normal day of Politics if you ask me." Mandel joked from his position on the Controls of the Ghost Portal - trying to figure out what had gone wrong _this time._ Sabrina chuckled to herself as she put on a mask to avoid breathing in the toxic scent of the Blood Blossom extract while she stirred and added the extract to the vial.

When the sky was beginning to turn orange, Sabrina Marquez changed into the Ghost Thief and took a deep breath before she started counting in every language she knew how to calm her heartbeat down. _Uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve, one two three four five six seven eight nine, un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit neuf._ The Ghost Thief was ready with her powers and her pocketknife and her vial. Ghosts weren't known for giving a fair fight - hell, she wasn't known for even _showing up_ to fights. But this time, if she didn't show up and Payne _did_ destroy the city - then she would be entirely to blame.

The Ghost Thief took another deep breath before saying goodbye one last time and phasing downward to the sewers. The Ghost Thief stood still for a second, checking for any immediate signs of Payne - finding nothing, she turned invisible and intangible as she listened in for any sound that would hint at her enemy's position. There: heavy steps northeast from where she was, angry and impatient steps. He was waiting, and he was running out of patience.

Sabrina had decided that no matter how strong, how ruthless, or how terrifying this ghost was, she was going to beat him.  
Because no one - ghost or otherwise - could threaten her and walk away undefeated.

The Ghost Thief remained quiet and unheard as she glided through the air while remaining invisible until she came to four steps above the water level that led to a tunnel, the Thief listened in and confirmed that Payne was wherever this tunnel went, so she followed it until she got to a dry room of concrete around the size of her bedroom. And there in the center of the room, Payne was standing with his whip in hand. As she entered the chamber, he tensed up and lashed out the whip. "I can sense you, General. Show yourself like a man and fight!" He demanded, looking around the chamber. Sabrina noticed that he also had strange gloves he hadn't been wearing before - she guessed they were to prevent her from phasing through.

The Ghost Thief turned visible and faced Payne, her eyes glowing mischievously. "I'm a trickster, I don't fight. But when I do," she threw the vial at the ghost and he dodged it, causing the vial to break and its contents to pool around near his feet as the scarlet liquid started to light up and the red smoke rose up, invading Payne's sense of smell and making him cough and wither and sink down to his knees, "I make sure I win." The Ghost Thief fell the effects hit her too - making her dizzy and disoriented for a second before she covered her mouth and nose with her gloved hand.

While he was down, the Ghost Thief held her breath and fired a blast, hitting him in the chest. And then another, and another, until he managed to recover and snapped the whip around her ankle, burning her as she was dragged down to the floor; almost immediately after, he got up and stomped down on her neck, cutting of her air supply for a second before he moved his boot to her chest, pinning her to the ground. "What a curious little creature you are. Thought you were just a weak little trickster ghost possessing a teenager, turns out I was wrong. Half a human, half a ghost - what are you?" Payne said as he grabbed her by the t-shirt and pulled her up and against the wall with his hand. The Ghost Thief latched onto the hand that was holding her and kicked him in the chest, bringing both of them to the floor. The Ghost Thief stepped away from him quickly and held him down with telekinesis.  
"I'm your worst nightmare." She smirked as she used her other hand and flew the whip down the tunnel until she heard a satisfying _splash_ and the river of waste continuing down its path. Now angry, Payne roared and it broke her concentration, letting him get up and throw her across the room. The Ghost Thief turned invisible and intangible just in time and phased through, ending up halfway between the wall and the floor; taking advantage of the few seconds she had, she grabbed her pocketknife, previously dipped in a good amount of Blood Blossom extract back at the lab - which meant that if she could stab Payne in "ghost heart" she'd essentially eliminate him, similar to vampires and wooden stakes in pop culture.

"Come out and fight, you little bitch! Or are you too scared to face _me_?" Payne shouted from the chamber, the echo making him sound more threatening than he already was. The Ghost Thief hesitated as she took a deep breath and counted to ten. _I'll never get close enough to stab him while he's up, I'll have to shoot him in the back first and then stab him._ Payne suddenly started talking about Pariah Dark and how she had stopped the start of a new golden age in the Ghost Zone. "The Ghost Zone has lived in anarchy for millennia, Pariah Dark would have finally put an end to that and brought order back! But you had to interfere! You had to put an end to that!"

Taking advantage of his distraction and anger, the Ghost Thief phased through the wall and fired a blast to his back. Grunting, Payne fell down, first to his knees and then to his side. _NOW!_ Kneeling down besides him and with as much strength as she could muster, the Ghost Thief brought down the knife only to be stopped almost as it pierced his chest by Payne knocking her legs from underneath her, reversing the roles and having him take control of the knife. _Mierda mierda mierda._ Payne held the knife to her neck, threatening to slash her throat if she moved an inch. "Any final words, General?" He taunted as he pressed the knife harder, enough to draw blood.

"Not today, _hijo de puta._ " She said, glowering. Using telekinesis to move a broken piece from the vial and stabbing him in the neck, Payne lost focus as he drew back his hands to remove the glass and the Ghost Thief took her chance, once again forcing him down and sinking the knife right into his chest, hitting his ghost heart.

Payne roared in pain as he was surrounded with a blinding green aura, making the Ghost Thief cover her eyes with her arms until the light burned out some seconds later, leaving nothing but a burnt silhouette around where Payne had previously lied. Getting up and brushing off the dust and ashes, the Ghost Thief finally turned back to Sabrina Marquez and almost immediately sank to her knees and leaned back against one of the dusty walls to catch her breath after almost being killed _again_. _Uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve, one two three four five six seven eight nine, un deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit neuf. Sigo viva, I'm still alive. That's good, I guess._

Sabrina checked her watch and saw that it was still early and she could go back to the lab to take care of her injuries there. Gathering strength and turning invisible and intangible, Sabrina grabbed her knife, flew upwards and examined her surroundings before heading to the lab, flying lazily just above the clouds. When she got to the lab, phasing through the wall and landing sitting down on the stool, she turned visible just as Toledo passed by and added a "Boo!" for an extra bonus. Toledo jumped back and screeched, dropping the papers she was carrying - in the meantime López and Mandel were laughing from their respective workplaces.

"I swear, _ratita_ , I'll kill the half of you that is still alive and- _ay Dios mio!_ What happened to you?!" Toledo said as she saw the state Sabrina was in. She was covered in dust, had several bruises down her back and neck, and red line of blood that remained from almost being stabbed.  
"I got in a fight...and I won! Obviously."  
Mandel looked up from his work but went right back to it once he saw the state she was in. "Is this going to become a regular occurrence or are you going to go back to the ' _me chupa un huevo salvar el mundo'_ attitude? Because I miss selfish Marquez - she was fun."  
"Excuse you, I'm still fun." Sabrina said, untying her hair to shake the dust off it. "Just wait until Halloween rolls around and I can freely terrorize the city." She says, laughing sarcastically. "Anyway, I should head home. See you tomorrow, unless another violent ghosts decides to kill me."

 _La vieja confiable._ Using humor to cover up fear. Classic move.

* * *

 **This chapter took a more violent turn and is the first one in which Sabrina actively fights a ghost.**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **Me chupa = who gives a fuck**

 **Burros densos = dense donkeys (idiots)**

 **Ay Dios mio santísimo = oh my dear god**

 **pastel de papa = (shepherd's pie) a casserole made with mashed potatoes, chopped meat, and other ingredients**

 **Chinchon = a popular card game**

 **La puta madre = (in this context) shit**

 **pibe = dude**

 **"Pero que se piensan?" = "what are you thinking?" (used to tell a group of people to lower their expectations and calm down)**

 **"me chupa un huevo salvar el mundo"= "i don't give a shit about saving the world"**

 **"la vieja confiable" = the oldest trick in the book**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again. Disclaimer: I own nothing that was on the show, that belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **The Ghost of King Midas**

Sabrina's birthday started out like any other day.

She'd woken up by slamming her head against the ceiling, managed to land with minimum damage to herself or her room, changed into her uniform, and gone downstairs for breakfast as per usual. Her parents were in the kitchen having breakfast for once, her Dad talking on the phone with someone and her Mom sitting down at the table sipping at her coffee. " _Buenos días._ " Sabrina said as she sat down and wolfed down a _medialuna._  
" _Feliz cumpleaños, hijita._ " Gabriela said, giving Sabrina a kiss on the cheek and Fabian held up a finger, signalling for her to be quiet.  
"Yes, she's right here, do you want to talk to her?" He said, looking at Sabrina for her answer. "It's Hernan."  
At the mention of her uncle Sabrina ripped the phone out of Fabian's hands and held it to her ear. " _¡_ _Hola tío!_ " Sabrina said, hearing a chuckle on the other side of the line. Hernan, her Dad's younger brother, spent most of his time travelling to exotic locals as he worked for a prestigious travel magazine as a writer and photographer.  
" _Hola Sabri, feliz cumpleaños!_ Happy Birthday! How's my favorite niece doing? Your father told me about the internship in that lab. Congrats!" Hernan laughed, causing her to smile.  
"Thanks. Where are you now?" She asked.  
"I am currently in Ezeiza, waiting for my car to arrive. I'm in Buenos Aires for the week." He announced, making Sabrina grin and throw her fist in the air. "Look, I'm going to be busy for the next three days, but clear your Friday night. What do you think of me taking you to eat sushi and then to see a play in one of the best theaters in the city as a birthday present?"  
Without even thinking about it, Sabrina agreed. "Yes!"  
"Dress nicely, it's a formal event. I'll see you on Friday, _que tengas un buen día._ Bye."  
"Goodbye." Sabrina said before she hung up and passed the phone back to her Dad. "Tío Hernan is taking me out on Friday night for sushi and to the theater." She said to her parents before putting on her coat, grabbing her backpack and slinging it onto her shoulder. "Have a good day, bye!"

Out the door and almost skipping from joy - Sabrina Marquez carried on with her day.

...

When Hernan came to pick her up at eight that Friday, Sabrina had changed into the little black dress she used for formal occasions and let her hair half-down for once, using a couple of pins to secure it out of her face. Just for emergencies, her pocketknife was safely put away in her sling purse. Sabrina said goodbye to her parents and jumped into the taxi with her uncle and started talking immediately, not stopping except when they arrived at the restaurant and then continued talking when they sat down at the table and finished ordering.

"Enough about my travels, how's the internship going?" Hernan asked her as they waited for their drinks and food. "I heard that you work for Doctor Alejandro Martinez now."  
"It's great. Monday through Friday after school until eight at night and the occasional Saturday." Sabrina answered, purposefully leaving out the experiments, ghosts, and ever-present threats.  
" _No me digas..._ from what I heard, that old man makes Dr. Frankenstein look like a kid with a baking soda volcano."  
"I only talked to him a few times - but if what I hear in the lab is true, then he has some severe problems with _a lot_ of people."

Sabrina suddenly felt the dreaded burning feeling in her forearm and looked around the restaurant until she found a floating figure that looked like an Asian man in elaborate robes hovering by the entrance, yet nobody seemed to take notice of him. It had become a regular occurrence lately: seeing quiet, humanoid ghosts that nobody else seemed to see. Sabrina had put them down as stress mirages at first, but then one of the ghosts actually _talked to her_ and it was enough to set her on a short-lived hyper-paranoid streak. _He's not attacking, he's not causing havoc, he is peacefully floating about. Please carry on sir._ Sabrina ignored him and her attention went back to her uncle telling her about his time in the Maldives.

Two hours later, after they had eaten and talked about school and travel anecdotes and other things, they left for the theater and Sabrina saw that Hernan wasn't kidding when he said they were going to the best theater in the city. The building - like many others in Buenos Aires - was built in past centuries, keeping the old facade and remodeling the inside. As they walked to the lobby, Sabrina was there were many rich and powerful and corrupt men and women drinking and laughing as they waited for the play to begin. Hernan, who hadn't stopped taking pictures throughout their outing, took pictures of the premise while he and Sabrina continued to talk.

And then Hernan saw the handsome man across the room. " _Che,_ _Sabri_." He nudged her side, bringing her attention to the man, Sabrina examined him and gave her uncle a nod and a thumbs-up.  
"Yeah, he's definitely gay." Sabrina agreed as her uncle smoothed down his suit. "Are you going to talk to him? Just like that? Are you insane?"  
"What? You think that I can't seduce him?" He asked, giving her an incredulous yet cocky look.  
"You are a successful 37-year-old single gay man who spent two decades in the closet. But maybe he is still in the closet too." She argued and then an idea popped into her head. "Go with your notepad, introduce yourself first as a travel writer and _then_ start making your way into his pants." Sabrina suggested.  
Hernan straightened up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. " _This_ is why you are my favorite niece." He said before going up to the man, leaving Sabrina alone.

Suddenly, a voice she didn't want to hear ever again addressed her and every muscle in her body tensed before turning around and facing Vlad Masters. "Ah, Miss Marquez - _what a surprise!_ "  
"Drop the bullshit act, I don't believe it - you obviously knew I'd be here." Sabrina said, glaring at the man. She looked back to make sure Hernan was distracted and wouldn't see her. "What the fuck do you want?"  
"Information. You see, Miss Marquez, before I was a billionaire business man-" _y_ _un soberano infumable_ "-I was also scientist who researched this new and exciting field of science. You've proven to be an interesting test subject." He said, grinning like a villain with his hands behind his back. Before she could say anything else, Vlad turned around and walked away - but not before saying one last threat. "Gold lasts forever Miss Marquez, human flesh, unfortunately for you, does not. _Toodalo_!" And with that he was gone. Him being gone only made Sabrina even more anxious as she remained on edge, jumping at the slightest sound or almost pouncing on person that brushed past her.

One of the many waiters came up to her and asked. "Excuse me, Miss but do you happen to be Maria Sabrina Marquez?" Sabrina laced her fingers around the pocketknife's hilt and raised an eyebrow.  
"Who wants to know?" She inquired, stepping away making the waiter step forward, too close for comfort.  
"Vlad Masters sends his regards." And with that he stabbed her side with a strange device. An electric current wired through her body, making her shiver and shake slightly before steadying herself against the table. The blast had knocked the air out of her lungs and effectively weakened her - she felt like she was just taking a breath after not breathing for months. Sabrina felt heavy and grounded...just like before the Accident. _No. No, no, no, no._

The waiter was gone quickly, Sabrina followed him with her eyes and saw him sneak behind one of the heavy velvet curtains as she tried to stabilize herself. Sabrina took a deep breath and let go of the edge of the table before weaving through the crowd after the waiter. Behind the velvet curtain was a narrow hallway that ended with a spiral staircase that Sabrina assumed must have led to the upper catwalks above the stage. The waiter was sitting in one of the steps, headphones covering his ears and his nose stuck in a book. _Good, he's distracted._ Sabrina took off her shoes so that she wouldn't alert him of her presence and silently crept up the hallway until she was right in front of him.

Quickly, Sabrina grabbed the headphones' wire, looped it around the waiter's neck and pulled, applying pressure to his windpipe and moving behind him so that he couldn't catch her. The poor man struggled against Sabrina and flopped like a fish out of water, desperate for air, before giving up and remaining still. "What do you want?" He asked breathlessly.  
"What did you zap me with?" Sabrina insisted, applying even more pressure to the windpipe to remind the man who had the upper hand in that situation. The waiter nodded and Sabrina budged a centimeter, enough to let him speak.  
"I-I don't know." He said between wheezes as he grasped for air. "Please don't kill me - I was paid in dollars - I have three children and a wife - I won't say anything I promise-" He reached into his vest and pulled out the device, throwing it back in her general direction. _"Por favor se lo ruego,_ please let me go."  
With one last pull, Sabrina let go of the man and instead went for her knife, holding it out in front of her both as a defense and a threat. "If you value your life, get out of here while you still can - things are going to get...unpleasant."

The waiter stumbled to his feet and ran off, leaving his book behind. Sabrina took a deep breath and analyzed the situation: _ok_ _ay, this device by that billionaire son of a bitch has left me powerless for who knows how long. He said that he hadn't finished testing me - he's probably testing how well I can manage without my powers - which means he's been doing this for a while - wait, does that mean that he sent Payne after me? That would explain how he managed to get the name and address of my school and know which class to go to. That son of a bitch is going to get it once I'm finished here, but first and foremost: will I ever get my powers back? What if I'm doomed to remain a regular human for the rest of my life?  
So, I'm still a threat to him with or without the powers - I still have the job at the Portal Project and my wonderful brain. I could still achieve a very successful career in several fields of science; but I had just gotten control of most of my powers, and now it's even more time until I can get used to being a regular human again.  
But that's a problem that can wait, now to deal with Masters and whatever the fuck he has in store for me. _

Sabrina picked up the device and stored it back with her knife; put her shoes back on, tidied up; and rushed back to her uncle before he started to worry.

The play was going to begin shortly, and people were already lining up at the door to enter and find their seats. Sabrina saw Hernan and the man he had been courting lining up together. "Hey, sorry I took so long." Sabrina apologized to her uncle as she got in line next to him.  
"No problem. Sabrina, this is Matthias Van Hassel, a visiting businessman from the Netherlands." He presented her, and Sabrina gave the man a kiss on the cheek - the typical way to greet strangers. "Matthias, this is my niece Sabrina." Kind words and a "pleasure to meet you" were exchanged as the doors opened and everyone rushed into the theater to find their seats. Sabrina and her uncle were seated in one of the boxes and talked away as they waited for the play to begin.  
"So, how was the Dutch businessman?"  
"You were right. He's gay but not out of the closet. He is afraid that making it obvious will result in loosing his job and becoming a social outcast."  
"You'd know about that. Grandpa Tomás almost managed to send you to that military academy and to that conversion therapist."  
"Oh yes, I was the disgraced homosexual abnormality in the very ordinary Marquez family. If you think they are overbearing now, it'll be ten times worse later. Few years more and they'll start bugging you about a boyfriend, then marriage, and then children."  
"And unfortunately for them, I will grow up to be a successful scientist with no husband and two cats named Schrodinger and Mendeléyev." They laughed.

The lights in the theater dimmed and the curtain rose up.

...

Act I was interesting enough.

The play was about King Midas, an Ancient Greek king who helped a satyr that was good friends with the god of wine and said god granted Midas one wish, and Midas asked for a gold touch - and then he turned his daughter and all the food he touched into gold. Later he judged a competition between two gods and the god that lost was a bad loser and decided to punish Midas by giving him donkey ears - but that's irrelevant.

But as the play progressed and Act II loomed closer, Sabrina started mentally preparing herself for whatever the hell Vlad would throw at her. _Gold lasts forever...King Midas had a golden touch...Is there a ghost that can turn everything he touches to gold? The ghost of King Midas, maybe? I don't even know when it's going to attack me or someone else - seeing as there hasn't been any screaming yet, I'm going to assume that it has yet to attack._ _But when it_ does _attack, I'll make sure that Hernan doesn't go anywhere near the ghost and we can both leave the theater and away from danger and maybe out for ice-cream at Munchis. Everyone's happy...except those that might be turned to gold...but that's not my problem._

The curtains drew to a close and the lights in the theater turned back on as the intermission began and people went to the bar to have a quick drink or to the bathroom. Hernan and Matthias had gone to the bar to get some drinks and Sabrina had accompanied them. _Now comes Act II, and we're still here when we should really leave this place. But how do I manage that?  
Feign illness?  
No, that will only worry Hernan.  
Yeah, but better worried and out of the theater than careless and in the line of fire.  
No, not an option, this is his job too.  
Then what do I do? Stay here and be turned into _actual _gold? In the myth, assuming that the ghost does follow all the rules of its story - there was a way to reverse the effects of the gold touch. But what was it?_

"Sabrina?" Hernan tapped her in the shoulder, bringing her back to reality and causing her to instinctively latch onto Hernan's arm as if he were an attacker. " _Te sentís bien?_ Are you feeling okay?"  
" _Si si,_ sorry." She apologized as she let go of his arm and recomposed herself. "Just thinking about something. What were we talking about?" Sabrina asked with a smile.  
Hernan shook his head and laughed before pointing to Matthias. "Van Hassel here was just telling me about the myth the play is based on. Says they skipped a very important part: how Midas managed to restore his daughter and food and everything he had turned to gold." He told her.  
 _Goddammit Marquez..._ "Really? How did he manage that?" She asked, trying to look interested but not desperate.  
"Well, quite simple actually, the myth said he simply dipped them into running water. A river or a creek of some sort." Matthias explained as he tried to light a cigar but a server quickly came to shut it off. The server left and Matthias insulted him in Dutch. "Damn regulations, _"our sensors are very sensitive, sir"_ and all that bullshit."

 _The smoke sensors are sensitive, and a building like this - a cultural hot-spot for the rich and corrupt - it sure has water sprinklers. And if they are so restless about the smoke sensors it's because the sprinklers are full. Ha. Ha-ha. The presents itself before the problem. The irony is about as hilarious as this situation._ The spectators were called back inside for Act II and Sabrina tensed. _And now, the conflict begins._ Sabrina followed her uncle back to their spots as the lights dimmed again and the lights focused on the stage, but this time, instead of the curtain rising as it should: a spot of gold appeared around the center and spread from there, effectively turning the entire curtain gold and solid.

And then there was a terrified scream from behind the curtain. Security guards ran through the wings to the stages and to the stage behind the curtain to see what the hell was going on. A gun shot. A scream. A shout for help.

And then the ghost in a motherfucking toga appears.

The crowd sees but does not react. They stand there, still and motionless as the pale, almost transparent, man in a white toga with donkey ears and wearing a crown just paces around the stage, looking around and gawking at the new world that was laid beyond him. But he straightened up and greeted them all with his arms stretched wide open. "Well well well! Gods of Olympus! This messenger wasn't messing with my toga when he suggested I come to this place. So much potential! So many beautiful angelical faces just _yearning_ to be immortalized in my precious metal. Except for you, yes, you at the third row with the ridiculous glasses, sorry sweetheart but not even _my_ magic touch can perform such a miracle. May I suggest some offerings to the goddess Aphrodite? If she's still thriving, that is, gods can be _so_ moody. They give you a gift then curse you then disappear for a couple of centuries and then come back to have some more bastards." The crowd laughed and cackled, thinking it was all part of the play.

Midas flew off the stage and landed in front of the first row, examining the very unfortunate audience members. "Lovely. Nice. No. Ew. Over my twice-dead body. Marvelous! Get up!" Midas cried out as he stopped in front of a young woman of twenty-one and examined her face closely without touching her. "Well? Did I stutter? Get up sweetheart, that was not a suggestion." By now the audience was bending over with laughter. He was just an actor with very good cables that made him fly around. Nothing less, nothing more. The young woman got up from her seat and stood in front of the ghost, shifting uncomfortably at the attention. Midas started telling her how to pose. "Put your arm like this, no not that like that you look like one of my house-slaves. There there, with poise and elegance like a swan. Now you're ready!" And with that he just touched her hair, literally a little pat on the roots, and the gold spread throughout her entire body until there was statue where a young woman had been previously standing.

The crowd gasped and awed at the statue, a man in the seat next to the one the woman had been sitting on even reached out to touch the golden figure. Solid gold. "Now, who's next?" Midas asked to the now buzzing crowd - all eager to participate like children in a magic show. _No, please no, PEOPLE HE LITERALLY TURNED HER INTO A FUCKING GOLDEN STATUE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FUCKING EYES!_ Someone stood up and then another and then another until the entire first row had been turned into gold statues with their fully given consent. _Ay ay ay, if Vlad's test was on how much faith and trust I have in the human race then I failed._

Suddenly Midas silenced the crowd. "Now now, that's enough demonstration. I'm looking for a certain someone. A special request from a new friend. Let's see if you know her, shall we? Brown hair, dark skin, has no consideration for anyone else besides herself? You'd make a wonderful addition to my collection, General..." Midas sing-songed as he scoured the room with his eyes. Sabrina leaned back on her seat, shifting away from the ghost's sight. _Okay, what now? I can't destroy him, and the water sprinklers would only work for those turned to gold, not him! Then what? Hide until my powers are back? And even with my powers, how do I destroy him? My knife isn't permanently coated in Blood Blossom extract and unless I can weaken him with some- Vlad's device. If it can effectively cripple my powers for a couple of hours then it can weaken any type of ghost. I just need to weaken him, then we'll see if he has a particular weakness I can exploit._

"Are you going to show yourself, estimated Thief? Or do I have to go look for you?" Midas asked. Sabrina excused herself saying that she had to go to the bathroom and left her spot as she clutched her purse and went back to the narrow hallway she had previously caught the server that had short-circuited her powers. On the way, she tightly braided her hair back to keep it out of the way.  
 _If this leads to the upper catwalks then maybe I can find a way to set off the fire alarm and the sprinklers, managing to turn those statues back to humans.  
But what about Midas? What if by doing so I just make him angry and he lashes out and goes after you?  
...Good, let him follow me, I could lead him back to the Ghost Zone, just like Steiner.  
But what if he turns everything in his wake into gold?  
Then all the thieves in the city (including me) will begin ravaging. I can weaken him with Vlad's device, maybe I can weaken him until he disappears or until he's too weak to turn anything into gold. That's grasping for straws, but I don't have much to go on._

Sabrina geared up and ran up the stairs, once she was up on the catwalk, she saw a ladder on the other end of it that led to the portion of the stage that was currently behind the curtain. There were five golden cast members frozen in several poses, but Sabrina payed them no mind, avoiding them for the time being as she walked across the catwalk and latched onto the ladder, descending down to the stage and hurrying to the side, where she could access the front of the stage and face Midas without being see. Sabrina peeped from behind the golden curtain and saw as Midas turned another eager spectator into gold. _No worry, if I managed before without my powers, then I can do this. Theoretically._

Sabrina took a deep breath and took a step back before she looked around, trying to find anything that she could light on fire and something to light it up with. She spotted the costume rack with a toga and took one, they probably won't miss it anyway. _Now something that can create smoke..._ Sabrina looked around again, and there she saw the electrical box, the one that had the sign of the electrocuted man and "High Voltage" written in big bold letters. _Actually, I don't need the toga, I just need to cause a short-circuit and create smoke._

Throwing the clothing piece aside, Sabrina opened the box and examined the various cables and switches. _Which to cut, which to cut._ The cables were unlabeled and the switches as well. _But I can't create a short-circuit without possibly electrocuting myself in the process. If only I could have something that imitated electricity or some of energy, like caloric or mechanic._ Suddenly her mind went to Vlad's device. The shock on her was similar to being electrocuted, it had even caused a small amount of smoke to rise up. _Thank you, Masters, for providing this - whether you intended to or not_. Sabrina grabbed the toga from the floor and examined the device, turning it around in her hands until she found the ON switch and flipped it. The green energy around the device indicated it was functioning and Sabrina knelt on the floor, setting the clothing piece in front of her and then poking it with the device. It was less than second before a thick cloud of smoke rose up from the now blackened cloth.

And then alarm went off and it started to rain down.

There were confused screams and Sabrina hurried to the seats to see what was happening. People were leaving and the statues were slowly starting to turn back to humans, the people that had been petrified barely gaining awareness of their surroundings before running out as well.

And there was Midas losing his mind.

"No! NOOOO! My statues! Where are you, you wretched thief?! Show your face!" He screamed in rage as he fell to his knees. _Who knew King Midas was such a drama queen?_ Taking advantage of his distraction, Sabrina ran with all her might and plunged the device into the King's back. Again and again and again with a ferocity she didn't know she had. Midas howled as he fell to the side in a fetal position. "My statues...My statues...my pure golden statues..." Midas whimpered. Then his body started flickering like a faulty light bulb before disappearing completely.

Sabrina was left standing there as the sprinklers ran out of water and the rain stopped - she was soaked to the bone and would probably catch a cold, but that wasn't important right now. Suddenly she realized that Hernan was probably looking for her, so Sabrina quickly threw the worn down device into her purse and ran out to the bar, where the spectators had retired to when the sprinklers had activated, they all had towels around them; she spotted her uncle and Matthias scouring the room for her. Hernan saw her and she ran to him, he gave her tight hug. "Where were you? The alarm went off and-"  
"I was in the bathroom and when I heard the sirens I hid there just in case. What happened?" She asked him, looking distressed. _And the Best Liar Award goes to: Sabrina Marquez, for her outstanding performance as a defenseless ignorant teenager._

Her uncle told her what had happened as they dried off, put on their coats, and left the building. "And then the fire alarm rings and we're escorted outside. You arrive sometime after that." Hernan told her as they walked down the street. "So, how about to make up for this fiasco, we go get some ice-cream?" He offered, and Sabrina nodded immediately.  
"Absolutely." She agreed. Suddenly she felt a familiar warmth and the feeling of zero gravity return to her, spreading through her like soup in the winter. _Wow, late like a true Argentine, nice one, powers. Nice to have you back, though._

Sabrina froze in her steps when she saw Vlad Masters watching intently from the other side of the street - leisurely sitting in a cafe and sipping coffee as if he was just waiting for a friend who was running late. He looked at Sabrina with a pleasantly surprised expression on his face - like the new teachers who were surprised when she surpassed their expectations. He raised his cup in a mocking toast and continued to enjoy his evening as if he had done nothing wrong. _Así que te pensas que te voy a dejar así nomas, hijo de la gran puta? So you think that I'm just going to leave, you son of a bitch?_

Just to give him a small taste of what was to come his way - Sabrina noticed a waiter carrying a piece of cake with _merengue_ topping and made him trip, using telekinesis to make sure the piece of cake landed square in the billionaire's face, frosting first. Sabrina chuckled, covering her mouth with hand to disguise the laughter before flashing her eyes green at him as a threat and a reminder and looking away - listening to Hernan talk about the time he went bungee jumping in Punta Cana.

After a well deserved ice-cream - yes, ice-cream in the middle of winter - Hernan dropped Sabrina off at her house and the genius decided to wait some time before getting back at Vlad - not only fooling him into a sense of security and making him think that public humiliation was her revenge, but also to give herself time to think of a very good plan. A magnificent plan to burn a clear message in Vlad Masters' mind: _I am not to be messed with and I will not play your games._

The winter holidays had officially begun - a little later than usual but a late break is better than no break - and Sabrina fell asleep thinking of what to do during those three weeks of cold freedom.

* * *

 **What is Sabrina going to do? You aren't going to find out soon, but I'd like to hear your speculations.**

 **As always review, suggest, favorite, and follow the story and thanks to RevyCaitEll, 16, karisay, and those who follow the story but don't review (why? reviews make the author happy)**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **Buenos dias: good morning**

 **"Feliz cumpleaños" or "feliz cumple": happy birthday**

 **Hijita: (literally: my little daughter), sweetie**

 **Que tengas un buen dia: have a nice day**

 **No me digas: don't you say**

 **Y un soberano infumable: And an insufferable bastard**

 **Por favor se lo ruego: please I beg you**

 **Munchis: an ice-cream parlor in Argentina**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, unfortunately.**

 **The Genius and The Thief**

"This is a bad idea." Sabrina reasoned as she examined the invention. " _¿Q_ _ue se pensaban?_ This is a terrible, terrible idea. It has the word 'Fenton' on it, _something_ is bound to happen."

Last Friday morning, after a small trade with Jack and Madeline Fenton, the Portal Project had acquired the Fenton Ghost Catcher - a net-like machine that separates ectoplasmic energy from people, objects, and places - and a cage that could contain ghosts with no chance of phasing through. In return, the Portal Project had put the marriage on the top of their Main Support list (side note: they are the only ones on that list, but they don't need to know that).

Sabrina, deciding to put to good use her connections with Daniel, had paid him a visit after she was done with school on Friday afternoon to check on the invention's liability. And it had been everything a meeting should aspire to be: short, to the point, and posing no inconvenience for any parties.

...

 _Danny Fenton was peacefully walking with his two best friends Sam Manson and Tucker Foley when out of nowhere, someone reached out, grabbed his shirt, and dragged him into an alleyway. Stumbling, he came face to face with someone he hadn't seen in quite some time. The Latina in the worn red hoodie and even older jeans let go of him and he recomposed. "Sabrina, you do know of this thing called e-mail, right?" He joked, only to receive a raised eyebrow and an impatient look. "What do you want? You never exactly drop by just to say hi."  
"Nice to see you still in one piece too, Daniel. My team traded with your parents and we received the "Fenton Ghost Catcher", and seeing that it has the word Fenton on it, I figured it was better to ask someone who used it before, so I thought, who better to ask than their own son and_ experienced _ghost hunter?" Sabrina said, crossing her arms over her chest.  
"Don't let it go through you. I used it once to separate my human half and my ghost half so that I could multitask and it isn't a pleasant memory." Daniel said.  
Suddenly Sam let out a 'hmph' and put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, because you'd know. _We _were the ones who had to put up with your split personalities and put you back together, remember?" The Goth protested. Tucker nodded in agreement.  
"Yeah, dude. Human Danny was a chilled-out party dude; Ghost Danny was an annoying superhero ghost who acted like a discount Superman." Tucker added. "And don't even get me started on..." He started but Sabrina interrupted him.  
"_Gracias. _Thank you, I have everything I need. I guess I'll see you three the next time Vlad decides to set an evil Ghost King free._ Chau! _" Sabrina greeted them goodbye._

 _And with that Sabrina Marquez was gone._

...

" _No seas miedosa._ Don't be such a scaredy cat." Mandel teased as he finished setting up the machine. "This should make experiments easier, if the Fentons are true to their word."  
"Well, as long as we don't make it go through you, I suppose that there won't be any unpleasant side-effects fro you." Toledo speculated. "Although I do wonder what would happen if we split Sabrina Marquez and the Ghost Thief apart."  
"Hilarious. Keep that thought, because the only thing that it will ever be: a thought experiment. A theory that will never be carried out because of the awful consequences we all know will hail from said experiment."  
"Yeah yeah, we now what a thought experiment is." López commented from his workplace, mockingly covering his ears.  
"Quick question, did all of you eat a clown for breakfast or is there a particular reason why you are all comedians today?" Sabrina asked sarcastically. "And in any way, actually stop and think about what would happen if you separated me and the Ghost Thief. You'd have a scientific genius on one side and a criminal mastermind on the other, and you'd have to somehow glue us back together. You would all lose your minds in less time than it takes the Ghost Thief to rob every bank and jewelry store in the city; and in a little bit more time than it takes Sabrina Marquez to most likely find a cure for cancer or AIDS, maybe even both." She pointed out, then she started going over the possibility of being the scientist that found the cure for cancer. "Huh."  
"Regardless, I think we'll be fine for as long as you stay away from that." Toledo finished, pushing the rest to go back to work.

...

Disaster broke about an hour later.

 _"La suerte es loca"_ was an understatement. First the experiment exploded, then someone tripped over a cable and fell on the Fenton Ghost Catcher, and before Marquez could move out of the way, the Fenton Ghost Catcher went through her, leaving behind the Human and Ghost Half of Sabrina Marquez behind. _"How in the name of all things logical are we going to fix this?"_ López thought as he stared at the teen genius and the criminal ghost curiously examining the other and themselves.

The human girl looked almost exactly like their Sabrina Marquez, except she wore thick-framed glasses and her usual single braid was replaced by pigtails - that and she had mysteriously changed into her school uniform; the Ghost Thief had also changed, her frame becoming more waifish and angled, and she was now wearing a black raccoon mask around her eyes, leaving only the green glowing eyes and devilish smirk to be seen. They recalled what Sabrina had said regarding what would happen if they split her apart. _The Ghost Thief would rob everything of value in the city and Sabrina Marquez would probably find the cure for cancer._ The three adults were looking at the scene unfolding in front of them with a mixture of shock and fear; López gathered them as they discussed what to do.

"So, do we tell Martinez first or do we wait and see if we can solve it ourselves?" Mandel inquired, sending worried glances towards the girls.  
"Martinez finds out about this and we are fired!" Toledo protested. "Besides, what are we going to tell the Detectives? That the criminal they had been looking for months was sharing a body with their own daughter?"  
"Don't panic (yet), maybe we can figure out something that will meld them back together. But first we should make sure that they don't escape before we can actually figure how to reverse this." López stated, looking back at the thief and the genius. The Ghost Thief was looking around the lab like a predator stalking its prey, no doubt trying to see if there was anything of value worth stealing; while Sabrina Marquez had gone back to her job as if nothing had happened and was muttering things to herself as she wrote down things on a notebook and check a vial.  
"Good idea, now, how do we convince the Ghost Thief to get into the ghost-proof cell? Because, unless you haven't noticed, she can slip through our hands quite easily." Mandel pointed out sarcastically. "And Marquez...I don't think she should be any trouble now that she doesn't have ghost powers."  
"You do realize that she has dangerous chemicals within her reach, right?"

With some resistance and a failed slash with her pocketknife, Mandel managed to disarm Sabrina and push her into the "Non-Hazardous" storage closet, locking her there and throwing the key into his pocket - the Marquez they knew was already all brains and no brawn, but _this_ was ridiculous. The Ghost Thief was harder to catch, she was almost out the window when Toledo trapped her in the ghost-proof net they'd been developing - still a prototype, but it did the job - and locked her in their provisional ghost cell. When the portal had been activated and they got news of the new ghost in the city, Mandel and López worked to make a cell able to contain ghosts without any chance of phasing through or escaping by any otherworldly means, just in case that the aforementioned ghost went rogue and decided to cause mayhem.

Once the two halves were each in their own cells, the team continued to discuss what to do with them.

"Maybe we _should_ tell Martinez, after all, maybe the Fentons left a manual on how to merge things that have been separated and, y'know, keep our jobs." Mandel sneered the last part, still looking over his shoulder to see that the two doors were still closed and undisturbed. "So, who is going to break the news to the _jefe_? I volunteer whichever of us is better at dodging bottles of whiskey."  
"We should all go." López suggested. "They won't be going anywhere."

The three professionals agreed as they left the lab behind and hurried upstairs to Martinez's office. Toledo knocked on the door and Martinez called for them to come in, they entered the office and remained standing as Martinez pushed away what he had been doing and concentrated on his employees.  
"What disaster broke out for the three of you to come here?" Martinez asked with a mix of interest and concern.  
"We messed up with the machine, and we accidentally...eh...Toledo?" López said, giving Toledo a side-eye glance.  
Toledo glared at him before continuing. "Unfortunately, Doctor Martinez, we accidentally separated Marquez and the Ghost Thief so that they are now two separate entities. And we can't seem to figure out any way to merge them back together without any kind of physical or mental repercussions possibly appearing."  
"We locked the Ghost Thief in the ghost-proof cell and Marquez is locked in the storage cupboard." Mandel added quickly as his stood up from his chair.

Martinez took two seconds to react and then tilt his head in confusion. "Okay okay...so if the three of you are all here, then who the hell is keeping an eye on the two girls we all know are capable of picking locks? One picks the lock and the other phases through the door. I suggest you start looking before I am compelled to alert the Detectives Marquez of a kleptomaniac ghost loose in the city and of what happened to their daughter."

...

The Ghost Thief smirked smugly as she saw her captors hurrying away through the keyhole and left no one behind to watch over her. _Amateurs_. The Ghost Thief slithered under the net that kept her from using her powers, swiftly snaking her way out. First one hand, then the other, then her torso, followed by her legs and finishing with her feet as she stood up and examined her surroundings. They had locked her up in a room the size of a broom closet, with white walls decorated with circuit-like patterns and a small door handle, giving away the fact that this was a provisional cell, a makeshift prison. _Thank god for motherfucking amateurs_. The Ghost Thief ran her hands along the walls trying to find a weak spot, a weak link, a way out, and she found it in the form of the door handle. The Ghost Thief first took hold of the handle to make sure it wouldn't zap her and when it didn't, she smirked in satisfaction, the Ghost Thief concentrated on going through the handle and threw her arms in the air in celebration as she found herself back in the lab.

Suddenly, the handle of the wooden door next to her cell rattled and there was a triumphant snort as the door opened and a human teenager emerged from the other closet. The Ghost Thief recognized the white lab coat and the uniform under it. The girl must have been around her age, with a Latin complexion, dark brown hair and eyes, and around her same height.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I believe there are more than 100 banks in this city and I pretend to be done with them before nightfall. _Chau chau!_ " The Ghost Thief said gleefully, but was halted by the other girl telling her to stop.  
"Get me out of here! We can be of benefit to each other! Just you, there is a 1 in 296 chance that you will be done with all the state and private banks in the city before sunset - and besides all of them have the Anti-Ghost Alarm 2.0 version installed, meaning they'll be able to detect your ectoplasmic energy. With my help, my body's caloric energy should be able to hide yours so long as you let me remain in control and conscious. How about I offer you a deal?" The girl pleaded.  
Now the Ghost Thief was interested. "What's in it for me, Einstein?" Suddenly, the sound of approaching and desperate footsteps startled the pair.  
"Fly now, discuss later." The girl latched onto the Ghost Thief's shoulders as the ghost turned invisible and intangible and flew them out of the laboratory and though the city until they landed on a rooftop on top of an apartment building somewhere near the Obelisco.  
"So, you were saying something about making a deal with me?" The Ghost Thief said.  
"I help you, but only if you steal some things for me."  
"What exactly are we talking about? Jewels, cash, illegal substances, weapons?"  
"Oh, just a few things really. Nothing that an entity of your capabilities can't manage." The girl said, pushing her glasses up and straightening her back. "My name is Sabrina, by the way, Sabrina Marquez. Do we have a deal?"

The Ghost Thief didn't even hesitate as she shook hands with the genius. "Yes we do."

…

Mandel and Toledo and López sank into a full state of panic as they saw the two open doors.

"What are we going to do now?! Marquez is gone! The Ghost Thief is gone! We have a kleptomaniac ghost and a scientific genius on the loose - let us not forget they are both greedy and manipulative - in the city and who knows where they may be!" López panted as he pulled his hair in desperation. "What are we going to tell the Detectives Marquez?! We'll have to explain everything! The accident, the experiments, the Ghost Thief, everything!"  
" _Calmate, la concha de tu madre_ , maybe we can track Marquez's cellphone or, you know, figure out her position by simple deduction." Mandel pointed out. "Considering it's the Ghost Thief without Marquez to harness her, we can expect, what, everything of value in the city to be stolen? If we can get access to the police radios and follow the trail of robberies then maybe we can predict where she will be next."  
"What about Marquez? Unless she went to her house then she and the Ghost Thief could be together." Toledo considered.  
"Why would they be together? They have no reason or motive to stick to each other." Mandel asked, to which Toledo gave him a dead-panned look and pointed to the security footage that had just loaded. Most of the security cameras around in the lab had been disabled for obvious reasons and the only one left working was encrypted, meaning only the Portal Project crew could access it. The footage from the five minutes they were in Martinez's office showed the genius and the ghost talking together before reacting to something (most likely them) and disappearing together.  
"Well, they left together, and judging by their hand gestures and body language, they are going to do something."  
"What are we waiting for! Start tracking Marquez's cellphone, she'll lead us straight to the Ghost Thief!"

...

"There, chip and battery removed, the authorities can't track me, _you,_ on the other hand, if the scientists back at the lab have a sample of your ectoplasm then there was this new program they were developing that would allow the user to track a ghost by their ectoplasmic signature...but it's not finished, meaning they probably won't use it, we are safe." Sabrina said as she carefully disabled the chip, meddling with the material. They were now in the building in front of the National Institute of Science. She went over the plan again, just to make sure the Ghost Thief got it. "You go in, steal everything from the list I gave you, and then come out. No witnesses, no murders, no collateral damage. Understood?"  
" _Si, si, si._ I'm a criminal not an imbecile." The Ghost Thief said as she finished disabling the security cameras nearby and turned invisible and intangible before flying away and into the building.

They had already gone through several stores and banks in the city as Sabrina helped the Ghost Thief hide and the Ghost Thief gave her some of the profits in return. Sabrina walked past the bank, the Ghost Thief then laid low by using the residue of possessing Sabrina as a camouflage, stole the money and got out quickly, depositing the cash in Sabrina's many makeshift pockets. The National Institute of Science was their final project together before they parted ways.

 _There is a 1 in 3 possibility chance that this plan will work and can go back to my house without having to say a word to anyone about this. I will simply carry on with my work in my bedroom and then publish my findings, get it peer reviewed, and collect my Nobel prize(s)._ Sabrina Marquez became lost in her own thoughts, muttering to herself about possible experiments as she waited for the Ghost Thief to come back with her stuff. The Ghost Thief returned ten minutes later with everything Sabrina had asked for fitted into a cardboard box. "Thank you, now, it is now 19:03 in the afternoon and I'm expected back home at around 20:00, I suppose I can find my way back to my house."

" _Hasta la vista_ , bitch. I'm off to the nearest bank - tonight I'm dining in the Alvear Palace!"  
"You are a ghost, a being of ectoplasmic energy, your "ghost heart", while not tampered with, is a near endless source of energy, meaning that, biologically, you have no need for food or sleep." Sabrina pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly Sabrina felt something sharp sinking into the back of her neck, making her cringe. Sabrina reached back, grabbed whatever she had been shot with and pulled it out; it was a dart, and judging by the few drops of the yellow serum that remained inside the vial, it was a tranquilizer dart. _Ay la puta madre que los-_ but her curse was cut short by her vision blurring and becoming black around the edges before loosing all consciousness and everything fading away. The last thing she remembered seeing was the Ghost Thief cursing as a green cage fell upon her.

 _La puta madre que los pario..._

…

After the cellphone idea had been discarded, the trio of scientists had to resort to a more reckless and so far untested idea: to track the Ghost Thief's ectoplasmic signature.

"But what if it doesn't work and we are left with nothing to go on?" Toledo argued as Mandel set up the computer.  
"Then we alert the police and brace ourselves for a lifetime in prison and disgrace." López said as he retrieved an ectoplasm sample from the Ghost Thief. "But for the sake of Marquez and our future, I suggest that we concentrate on finding them before I have to call my wife to explain all of this."  
Mandel concentrated on the screen as he ran the code and focused on the data. One minute passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Half-an-hour. It failed. The map stared back at them empty-handed, not even the smallest dot appearing.  
"It was nice working with you all, and now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to call my wife." López excused himself.

Suddenly a dot lit up. Bright and red, flashing on the street right in front of the National Institute of Science.

"Actually, López, hang up the phone. We got her! We have the Ghost Thief!" Toledo cheered as they hurried up and loaded a tranquilizer dart for Sabrina and the cage for the Ghost Thief. They got on Martinez's private chopper and Mandel piloted just below the clouds, giving them a clear view of the rooftops, where the dynamic duo would most likely be. What happens next you know, Sabrina is knocked out and the Ghost Thief is trapped in a cage, leaving the scientists with both sides of the equation. The only problem now was how to put them together again.

"We have to take them back to the lab! Make sure that them splitting up didn't do anything serious to their anatomy or heads!" Toledo ordered as she and López picked the girl up and laid her on the helicopter seat next to them. Toledo quickly went over her vital signs to be able to predict how much damage had been done. "Heart rate steady, just like a regular human girl. Breathing patterns, same. Temperature, 36°C, again, average for a human. It looks like Marquez's biology reversed to its previous state, to when Sabrina was fully human - which means that the Ghost Thief is at full force as well."

They arrived at the lab's rooftop and quickly dragged Marquez with them as Mandel handled the cage with a fuming Ghost Thief. Marquez was now coming to her senses and she not happy either. "What do you want with me? I inform you that I will personally lace your next meal with NaCN and then make it look like an accident the minute I get out of this place." She shook and twisted in their grasp and manged to kick López in the groin but he painfully held on.  
"No need for that, Einstein, I will fling them off a building the first chance I get and make it look like suicide." The Ghost Thief threatened as she shook the bars of her cage.

The trio of distressed scientists were already at their wits' end and were currently being threatened by a criminal ghost and a genius, both of which could easily end their lives and not get caught in the process. "Mandel! Please tell me there is some kind of reverse button on that goddamned invention!" Toledo said as they arrived at the lab and she managed to hold down Marquez and keep her under control.

Mandel was closely examining the invention as he tried to find something - _anything_ \- that would merge the Ghost Thief and Sabrina Marquez back together and end this madness. Then he spotted the almost hidden switch on the circumference of the Fenton Ghost Catcher. _Please be it, please be it._ Mandel flipped it from "separate" to "merge" and picked up the invention, hoping it would work. Toledo stepped away at the last minute and López had his cellphone ready if things didn't turn out well.

With one swift swing, the Ghost Thief and Sabrina Marquez were engulfed by the invention.  
Then suddenly their Sabrina was standing in front of them, clutching her head.

She was still dressed in her casual clothes and lab coat, with her hair back in a single braid and no glasses. "Mandel? López? Toledo? Please tell me that you didn't really expect to contain me in a fucking modified storage closet." She said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows. The three scientists laughed and jumped on her, almost crushing the air out of her - maybe the punishment wouldn't be as harsh now that Marquez was back to normal. "Thanks for merging me back together - but if you'll excuse me, I have a _splitting_ headache and I should be getting home. I'll see you tomorrow! _Chau!_ "

And then she took off her lab coat and changed into the Ghost Thief before flying up and away.

...

Sabrina flew around the city, trying to get the headache to stop.

After a few hours of having her two sides separated, she still had memory of everything that had happened, but she chose to ignore them as trying to focus only made the pounding in her head worse. _But at least I'm back together and that is what matters._ Sabrina decided to head to her house before her parents got home and relax for the rest of the night. On the way, she transferred the money from her pockets to her backpack to keep them safe as she clutched the bag to her chest - a habit from living in the city all her life - and laughed as she imagined the _"oh for fuck's sake, not again!"_ expressions the police officers and agents would have on their faces as they realized who was behind the robberies.

Well past midnight, Sabrina Marquez fell asleep and this time everything stayed on the ground.

* * *

 **I hope you liked it, and don't expect any updates soon because I'm drowning in school work.**

 **As always, favorite, follow, suggest it to others, and review - and kudos to RevyCaitEll and 16 for reviewing and the PMs.**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **"La puta madre que los pario" = "fuck you all"**

 **"Chau!" = (informal) "bye!"**

 **NaCN = sodium cyanide, one of the fastest poisons known to mankind - a small dose can be lethal**

 **The Alvear Palace = a _very_ expensive and old hotel and restaurant located in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires**

 **"Calmate la concha de tu madre" = "calm the fuck down" (not a literal translation)**

 **"Si si si" = "yes yes yes" used to indicate impatience and annoyance**

 **Jefe = boss**

 **"¿Pero que se pensaban? = "What the hell were you thinking?"**

 **"La suerte es loca" = literal: "Luck is mad". Often used as way to reiterate that you receive whatever you receive and nothing else.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Elmer (Butch Hartman) unfortunately.**

 **Nobody Respects The Winter Holidays (fuck them)**

Even though the winter holidays didn't start well - a ghost attacking on your birthday celebration and your two sides being separated and then put back together aren't exactly the best beginnings - the rest of the break was going great.

The Detectives Marquez had taken a week off work for their wedding anniversary and left on a road trip to Mendoza - leaving Sabrina behind in the care of herself. And that meant she spend most of the week living in Nico's apartment, trading her tutoring services for good homemade food. The Portal Project wasn't letting her take a break either - Sabrina decided to take advantage of the lack of parental supervision to make all the rough physical tests that week.

A decision she would later come to regret.

...

 _"_ Alo? _Nerdiest of the nerdiest, has barely played one sport in her lifetime, spends most of her day on her ass studying something? Ring any bells?" Sabrina said breathlessly as she gasped for air in between the tests. She was lying face up on the ground, wearing her P.E uniform due to the lack of more sporty clothes._  
 _"Well, you being half-dead also adds up - but looking at your vitals...you could_ really _use some more physical exercise." Toledo commented from the makeshift workplace she and Sabrina had fashioned upon arrival - that was just a fancy description for a table with a few notebooks and a laptop in the corner of the court._

 _They were in an indoor tennis court - like the ones used in the 18th century - that Martinez had hired for the_ _afternoon so that they could do real tests in a (somewhat) open space without the fear of being seen. So here they were, on a Saturday afternoon, doing exercises that Sabrina may or may not have done once in P.E - she was too tired to put a finger on a specific memory from a specific year of school._

 _"Between lab work and school and the little social life I have left - I'm lucky I only need four hours of sleep. Regular exercise and sports just don't fit anywhere into my agenda." Standing up, Sabrina summoned her water bottle from the workplace before looking at the statistics - examining her results, Sabrina let out a low whistle. "Thank God for easily manipulated P.E teachers and being sneaky - if fights were all about agility then I'd loose all of them."_

"Physical Fitness Test #1 (Experiment GT.025): over the course of three hours, a series of standard tests evaluating the physical and physiological integrity of Subject GT under pressure were performed by Portal Project Member, Doctor Andrea Toledo. The tests performed were standard physical fitness tests often done on students or little league athlete teams. The tests show that while within Subject GT's own range of statistics, all vitals show the same patterns that of a regular human being under physical pressure.  
In terms of ghostly abilities, the tests show that the more strained Subject GT is, the less control the Subject has on its powers - further proving the theory that ghostly abilities are physiological and therefore require both energy and concentration from Subject GT in order to be used properly and to their full potential."

 _By the end of the examination, Sabrina was feeling similar to how she felt at the end of every P.E test in her academic life: like she was about to collapse and die._

 _"I hope you weren't planning on flying back to your house - because by the looks of it, you would lose consciousness in mid-air and crash." The blonde scientist said as she collected all the gadgets.  
"Nah, I'll just take the subway and hope I don't run into anyone pretty while I look like this."_

...

"Just how many dead bodies do you think are just lying on the bottom of the river?" Nico wondered out loud while he and Sabrina looked down at waters from the ferry's top deck.  
"Well, depends on whether the bodies were chopped into pieces and flowed from other rivers or if they were tossed whole from a boat...my best guess is at least a hundred bodies. And in any case, there would be _a lot_ more in bottom of the Rio de la Plata seeing as it was the military's favorite drop-off spot for dead bodies and living prisoners." Sabrina replied.

They were returning to the Puerto de Frutos from spending the afternoon in the islands of the Paraná Delta. It was their last week of Winter Holidays, Mariana - Nico's mother - had stated clearly that she didn't want them lying around the apartment all day anymore, and the weather that day was strangely warm, so they decided to gather some money and the _mate_ equipment and hop on the train to the Puerto de Frutos for a day in the open-air marketplace and the Paraná Delta. The Puerto de Frutos was where you could find everything and anything that was hand-made or made out of wood - and right next to it was the Paseo Victorica and the Parque de la Costa and the Trillenium Casino - all the entertainment one might want for a field day out of the city.

Sabrina wanted to believe that if she ignored the silent ghosts that she'd been seeing for the past weeks, then she could pretend that they didn't exist. That belief was crushed the second they got off the train and Sabrina walked out of the station to see almost transparent boats on the river and equally clear ghosts lounging on the banks. And the ghostly appearances didn't stop there. She saw a cargo boat and its workers, young men with rolled trousers and sleeves carrying boxes and shouting in Italian at each other; the lovebirds in an old fashioned rowboat date (yes, parasol included); small children splashing each other; a team of rowers gliding past the ferryboat and the cox waving his straw hat at her in greeting; stout women in cotton dresses and aprons carrying baskets of fruit on their hips and gossiping. The strange thing was that nobody else seemed to notice or see them, the ghosts were in a permanent state of intangibility, people passing right through like there was nothing there.

She'd been seeing a lot of those ghosts around the city lately, but she had assumed that not many would stray so far from the portal. And it would have been _so_ simple to close her eyes and pretend that she was simply spending too much time in the lab and therefore seeing ghosts everywhere as manifestations of her paranoia - that is, if her ghost sense didn't go off every time a ghost was near like a too-sensitive alarm and put her on high-alert. At the very least these ghosts had the decency of staying away and not bothering or interrupting, merely acknowledging her and the fact that she could see them. Better than most of the city ghosts, who were destructive and/or intrusive in every way possible.

"Do you also feel like we only had three days of rest instead of three whole weeks?" Sabrina asked as they boarded the train several minutes later, sitting down on the last available seats. She clutched her sling purse to her chest and they continued talking as the train left the station.  
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that feeling is universal. And when we come back we have two tests on Monday and two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday - _ya'ta, doy todo de baja_." Nico said defeated, leaning back on his seat. Suddenly he straightened up: he'd had an idea. " _Sabri?_ What are the chances that a ghost attacks our school and causes enough damage for another free week?"  
 _With me in it? Plenty._ "You are willing to face a ghost but five exams scare you? Idiot."  
"You say it because exams are easy for you."  
"No, I say it because the last time you faced a ghost, it kidnapped you and who knows what could happen to you if you faced something worse than El Hombre de la Bolsa!"  
Nico shrunk back, showing his hands in surrender. " _Solo decía_ _nomas_...just saying." Nico said. Deciding to change the subject, Nico wondered out loud some more. "Hey, if there's a ghost dimension, what if there is a fairy dimension or a goblin dimension or a witch dimension?"  
"Maybe...but if they are anything like the ghosts we've seen so far, then it's best if we don't try to create any more portals...for now at least."  
"If there is a goblin dimension, then maybe those stories about the Duendes Isleños stealing babies from their cribs might be true." His expression darkened as he gave that idea a second thought. "Oh fuck it _could_ be true."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Don't say it out loud or you'll give them ideas." She joked as she looked out the window before continuing to talk with Nico about whatever subject came up. School subjects, current terrible teachers, old terrible teachers, memories from previous years, expectations and predictions for future years, the latest ghost attacks, politics and political scandals, and many other things that went from silly to serious and everything in between.

...

Sabrina and Nico went their separate ways at the train station, leaving Sabrina alone with the city to herself.

Until the two little dead kids appeared.

Usually, Sabrina made it a point to avoid any situation that might resemble the beginning of a horror movie - but the two eclectic ten-year-olds looked up with wide eyes at her like she was some sort of deity when they realized she could see them and she figured that she would hear them out before saying anything. One had sun-burned skin, brown curls, was wearing peasant clothes, and spoke with a heavy Spanish accent; the other was brown-skinned, wearing what she recognized as _guarani_ garments, and sporting tribal face tattoos. Strange companions indeed. They led her straight to the Recoleta Cementery, where she stumbled onto one of the strangest and most wonderful scenes of her short life.

Ghosts of all eras gathered in the mausoleums to chat like old friends - they sat on gravestones, petted the stray cats that claimed the grounds as their home, some danced everything from the _chacarera_ to swing to tango while some others simply glided about, deep in thought. They bowed their heads and lifted their hats in greeting when the night guards passed by, even if they couldn't see them, and little ghost children played _rayuela_ by hopping in the spaces between the graves. It looked strangely familiar - not too unlike the few family reunions in which all the uncles and cousins that lived abroad or in other provinces came to the city, the only difference being that the ghosts had almost no relations to each other besides their place of meeting.

With a new idea in her head and a compelling motive, Sabrina changed into the Ghost Thief and walked into the gathering with her shoulders squared and her head held high with an amiable smile on her face, looking to make new friends.  
Allies were in short supply and these ghosts who were invisible to humans could prove themselves to be very useful...

...

Sabrina was starting believe that the universe was out to poison her Winter Holidays when she finally got a break in the heavenly delicious form of dinnertime and _sobremesa_ with the three old ladies that lived next door. Also known as _l_ _as viejas del barrio_ : the best source of chisme, good food, and legally-miscellaneous advice. They were the ones that had taught Sabrina how to play (and cheat in) several card and dice games, and the "basic survival skills every woman should know", including: handling a drunk (friend or enemy), cleaning blood (surfaces and fabrics), forging a signature, covering bruises and hickeys with make-up, getting prescription medicines without a prescription, and flirting your way out of tickets and fines, among others.

Renata Alexandrovna, Ines de la Vega, and Giuliana Strano were three old ladies of different backgrounds who lived together and knew all the neighborhood gossip as well as hundreds other stories from the turbulent past. Renata was a former-ballerina-turned-dance-instructor from Russia who was as skilled in pointe shoes as she was with weapons; Ines had been widowed five times by wealthy husbands (such untimely accidental deaths involving untraceable poison); and Giuliana was an Italian cook who had once served as an informant for the anti-fascist resistance during Mussolini. They had heard that the Detectives Marquez had left on vacation and left Sabrina behind and didn't waste another second before inviting (demanding? it sounded more like demanding) her over for dinner and company.

Their house was small but cozy - filled with old pictures and figurines and the smell of something cooking and some weapons and medals hanging on the walls. There was a sewing kit inside a cookie tin, knitting needles and yarn in a basket, and an embroidery hoop tucked somewhere in the living room. A rickety old radio was almost always on and tuned to station that only played music from the past century with a particular affinity to tangos. A photo album with pictures of homelands, parents, friends, husbands, comrades, service portraits, "wanted" posters, and even one of Sabrina with them sat proudly on the shelf.

" _M_ _io dio santissimo_ _,_ how are you and your parents not dead from starving and stress? If one doesn't remind the other two to eat, you would all be too caught up in whatever you are doing to notice you haven't eaten or showered in two days!" Giuliana reprimanded Sabrina in what she called "the exasperated _nonna_ tone" from her place in front of the stove as the teenager sat down on the kitchen table with the old flowery cover. " _Que mal, que mal._ "  
"Don't pester the _malyshka,_ Giuliana." Renata said without looking up from the knife she was polishing. "With the stew you've been preparing, we are going to have to roll her back to her house."  
"But before that happens, you will not believe what I heard this afternoon in the _peluquería_!" Ines began, rubbing her hands together. Meaning: the _chisme_ was juicy. "I saw Margarita - you know, the secretary that lives three houses down - in the pharmacy while I was arguing with the clerks so I could get my meds, buying a pregnancy test."

The three women in unison: _"No me digas."_

Ines nodded along. " _Vieron?_ I give her less than a day before she goes to that _malandrino_ doctor that lives around the block."  
Sabrina grimaced from the _piropos_ that old man had whistled at her when she had to pass by his house, and added. "And I give her less than a week before she either "gets her appendix removed" or gets her hands on some _misoprostol_." She slumped her shoulders and sighed. "Either way, I think we should have her over for _mate_. She'll need the company - and an alibi, just in case."

The somber mood was lifted when Giuliana filled a bowl with _puchero rioplatense_ and set it in front of Sabrina with a determined grin and a booming laugh. "Okay, there you go. You are not leaving this house until you clear at least three plates, _capisci_ _?_ " She said- using her finger to poke her in the chest to get her point across - before filling the other bowls with _puchero_ and finally sitting down to eat as well. Sabrina nodded before grabbing the spoon and diving in. "Good, good. _Estas hecha de puro hueso_."  
"Did you hear the ghost attacks? _Que Dios no quiera,_ Ines, but your ex-husbands could band together and testify in court against you." Renata teased.  
"The word of ghosts with no evidence to back it up would be useless in court. And I doubt they can still access the _guita_ they made while they were alive, so no buying the judge." Sabrina said in between spoonfuls of stew. "And there is no proof that your ex-husbands came back as ghosts-"  
" _No los llames que a lo mejor escuchan y vienen_ , _amor mio_ _._ No talk of them or else they come, sweetheart. _Lo muerto, muerto está._ What's dead should be left dead. What I _do_ want to talk about is what a little birdie told me this morning..." Ines said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "Some little birdie told me that you and Nico Oliveira went to Tigre today...alone." She pointed at Sabrina with her glass of wine before taking a sip.

Sabrina choked on her stew. " _Ay por favor._ Can't two old friends go to the Puerto de Frutos to enjoy their last days of freedom before going back to school?"  
"...anything you wish to tell us about your relationship status?" Giuliana added jokingly, poking Sabrina in the side with her elbow.  
"' _ta más muerta que los esposos de Ines._ It's about as dead as Ines' husbands."

The women laughed.

...

Sabrina finally went back to her house after eating until she couldn't lift her spoon anymore and laughing until her sides began to ache - the viejas had even given her a few tastes of their good alcohol, seeing as she was now old enough to stomach it. As she climbed up the stairs to her bedroom, the exhaustion of the past weeks crept up on her and Sabrina barely registered getting out of the layers upon layers of clothes, into her pijamas, burrowing under the heavy covers and falling asleep.

But the exhaustion didn't stop the nightmares from coming.

 _The inscription read "Maria Sabrina Marquez; July 30th 1990 - unknown date 2005; a brilliant mind taken too soon." God, she was attending her own funeral. Why couldn't they see her? Had she become just like the ghosts in the Puerto de Frutos, unheard and unseen by humans? Her parents, the Oliveiras, the viejas del barrio, the members of the Portal Project crew and Dr. Martinez, her classmates, relatives she didn't remember. The quiet was unnerving, none of them saying a word, all of them looking down at the body in the casket. Bony arms with chemical stains and scars from experiments laid still at the sides of her dead body. Martinez stared at what could have been avoided and whispered. "Goddammit, Miss Marquez, are you so proud that you would rather die proving you're right than live with the shame?" The spirit replies, even if he doesn't listen. "Yes."_

 _The scene changed and she found herself strapped to a cold metallic table in an equally cold laboratory, scientists wearing blood-stained scrubs and aprons stood above her, talking and pointing and deciding what to with her - Sabrina had grown familiar enough with her own blood to recognize the green undertone and the otherworldly substance that mixed with the plasma. Her powers don't work, she can't phase out of the restraints - or maybe she's isn't strong enough to use the and face the recoil - or maybe the restraints are phase proof or maybe-. She was shivering despite the nervous sweat - the waning heat of her body colliding with the lack of heat in the place. The first incision made her scream and thrash against the restraints, as did the second one and the third one and on and on until she lost count and the edges of her vision started blurring and fading to black. Whatever they had done left her bleeding, the heat running away with the river of blood that poured out of her body. Where did all the heat go? It's so cold..._

 _She's sitting at her own kitchen table, her parents and Nico standing in front of her with disappointment clear on their faces and her mother holding a pair of ghost-proof chains. "You really thought we wouldn't notice a criminal living among us? You really thought we were that stupid?" She's crying, and she catches a glimpse of the Ghost Thief looking equally terrified in the mirror. She tries to speak, to weave a lie to get herself out of this situation or to explain herself, but no words come out. The webs of lies suddenly become very clear to her, all the mistakes and flaws and inconsistencies in the patterns that she should have noticed. Scars she hadn't explained, coming and going at odd hours, disappearing from the face of the earth for hours at a time, books and equipment that had mysteriously ended up in her room. How could she had been so stupid? How could she had been so see-through while pretending to be the best liar that ever existed?_

Sabrina fell from mid-air and bounced off the bed before landing face-first on the cold floor.

Shaking and close to throwing up, Sabrina touched her arms and chest and sides to reassure herself that she was still somewhat alive and breathing. Even the pain from the crash was a nice reminder that the nightmares were simply nightmares and not prophetic dreams or memories - just terrifying, irrational scenarios. The nightmares became frequent and worse after the Battle of Ghosts and what came after that - Payne, Midas, being rendered powerless for a few hours, her two sides being split apart - and nothing Sabrina did to try and keep them at bay worked.

Sabrina took a deep breath and caught a glance of herself in the mirror. The Ghost Thief looked pathetic: sitting cross-legged on the mess of blankets, hair in a loose braid that had began to fall apart, and a helpless expression etched on her face. _This_ was the girl that led an army and outsmarted a city's entire police force? Sabrina used telekinesis to turn the mirror around and avoid facing her reflection. It was still fairly early, almost three in the morning, which meant she could either go back to sleep or watch old _Los Locos Addams_ re-runs until she fell asleep again or-

Remembering the new ghosts that had caught her attention, she re-did the braid and changed into street clothes before shifting into the Ghost Thief and flying to Recoleta, more specifically: to the Cementery.

She was in the mood for a good ghost story.

* * *

 **A grouchy Sabrina is a Sabrina you stay the fuck away from in fear of being murdered, just saying.**

 **Glossary and Translations:**

 **chacarera: a national dance that originated in the Argentine countryside, based on European group folk dances**

 **"Ay por favor"/"Ay la puta madre": "oh for fuck's sake"**

 **"Que Dios no quiera": "God not willing"**

 **"No me digas": "don't you say" (literal translation); "TELL ME EVERYTHING, EVEN THE MOST INSIGNIFICANT DETAIL" (most common use throughout Latin America)**

 **Peluquería: hair salon**

 **Malyshka: (Russian) little girl**

 **"Por el amor de Dios": "for the love of God"**

 **chisme: gossip**

 **puchero rioplatense: a stew made with beef, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes, carrots, and beef broth. Eaten in wintertime because it will warm you to the soul and the bones.**

 **"Que mal, que mal": "how bad, how bad" said in disapproval or disbelief**

 **Las viejas del barrio: the neighborhood old ladies**

 **"Y que va a ser": "what will be will be."**

 **"Ya'ta, doy todo de baja": "that's it, I give up on everything."**

 **"Solo decía nomas": "just saying"**

 **Duende: goblin**

 **The Legend of the Duendes Isleños: the tales say that the duendes snatch unbaptized babies out of their cribs and turn them into duendes, so you can never leave babies alone or else they will be snatched and you will never see them again. (Damn Latin America, back at it again with the creepy-as-fuck stories told to children)**

 **Sobremesa: talking at the dinner table after eating**

 **malandrino: evil**

 _ **misoprostol:**_ **pills that are used to treat stomach ulcers, but can also induce an abortion when used early.**

 _ **estas hecha de puro hueso:**_ **"You're skin and bones" = used to describe someone who is very thin**

 **Los Locos Addams: the Addams family**

 **And because I have small ideas that never fit anywhere, from now on at the end of every author's note, I'll leave a small headcanon that may or may not appear in future chapters.  
** **Headcanon: both Nico and Sabrina know how to dance tango, however, they are both terrible dancers.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **Trigger warning: mental breakdown, bad relationships with the church, and murder.**

 **Human Enemies**

Sabrina wasn't even fazed when a ghost careered inches in front of her and into an alley while the ghost that had thrown it went after it.

Lack of sleep affects people differently, that's a known fact - Gabriela would snap and point her gun at the slightest sound; Fabian would have puffy eyes and go through ten cups of _cafe con leche_ but wouldn't sleep until the job was done; and Nico would be drowsy and in a semi-conscious state until he could get some proper rest. In Sabrina's case she is aware of the world around her but doesn't respond to anything and most of the words that come out of her mouth are rapid gibberish or curses. A ghost fight right in front of her? A typical Monday morning. Sabrina kept walking, hoping that she could catch a few minutes of sleep during break-time and lunchtime - that would be the perfect solution if her problem was lack of sleep.

Her problem was that her life had become a _realismo mágico_ novel where the lines between "average weird" and "life-threatening bullshit" had become so blurry that she couldn't distinguish what was an average ghost attack or an attacker sent by Vlad to test her a little more - side effects include: nightmares, paranoia, jumpiness, irritability, and a desire to set everything that even slightly annoyed her on fire. It started with the Accident and got progressively worse as she was thrown into a world she didn't understand with completely different rules and concepts and creatures who could either destroy her or obliterate her enemies. The paranoia and her conscience resurfacing after years of being buried under ambition and pride was just the beginning; then came the constant state of vigilance, always expecting something to jump out of the shadows and attack; then the nightmares, vivid visions of possible disasters in which the outcome is not necessarily her own death but something just as devastating.

The worst part was that no matter how many times they fixed the portal malfunctions to stop ghosts from reaching the city or much she ignored the ones that were already there or how many times she challenged herself to go a long time without her powers to pretend that she was still only human - nothing seemed to make it better or at the very least soothe it. There were still so many things to worry and think about that she felt like her head would burn up on its own accord any time soon - before this madness started, calming her thoughts was not _easy_ but still manageable with medium effort and a good distraction, but now they were running unbound and wild in eight hundred different directions without slowing down, tearing her apart. Sleeping had become nearly impossible (nightmares discouraged sleep and the thoughts made sure they never came by keeping her awake), and concentrating on specific tasks or trying to distract herself was hard (the other thoughts were always humming like mosquitos during summer nights, not leaving you alone).

 _Maybe I can overshadow someone to destroy the portal and make it look like an outside attack...corporate sabotage? Government-sanctioned outlaws?  
Or kill the source of my problems...  
I'm not capable of murder...wait..._am I? _  
Well ghosts are already dead, but maybe there is a way to permanently exile them in the Ghost Zone...  
And if I find a way to make sure that neither Vladimir or Daniel ever cross my path again?  
If that doesn't work then I suppose I can get rid of them...  
Is it my imagination or is my body temperature rising to above-average-for-me levels?  
Nah, I've always been pretty hot.  
I wonder what will happen when I _actually _die...do I become the Ghost Thief permanently or do I just wither and go...  
Can I even die, I mean, is being half-dead the closest I'll ever get to actually dying?  
What a nice thought experiment that will never come to pass...I'm too clever to die.  
Too clever, too proud, too ambitious, too selfish - carajo, how has someone not killed you yet?  
Someone already has - I did.  
Of course, who else? _

...

Sabrina was walking to the lab that afternoon when she saw the very angry mob outside and considered turning around. She had been walking down the sidewalk after parting ways with Nico, going straight to the lab from school to try and continue on with her life while the ongoing battle inside her head raged on- but the mob was a very compelling deterrent.

 _Que carajo...what the fuck?_ The mob was throwing rocks at the building, the stones bouncing off the bulletproof windows; they were shouting for the scientists to stop what they were doing and repent; even harassed the staff that was trying to get in. Sabrina turned invisible and intangible and flew up and into the lab, turning visible and tangible as she landed in front of a distracted López, causing him to drop the papers he had been holding and take a step back, falling backwards. Mandel and Toledo both laughed from their workplaces, Sabrina offered a hand to López and helped him up.

"Hard time getting through the mob, Marquez?" Andrea mocked her.  
"What did we - or Martinez - do to get them _this_ angry? The worst we received from the religious fanatics were hate letters." Sabrina said.  
"Apparently, when someone says 'we are experimenting on ectoplasmic matter' what they heard was 'we are taking your dead loved ones from Heaven and experimenting on them'." López explained, rolling his eyes at the mob. "Those _hincha-pelotas_ are going to need more than an angry fanatic mob to stop us."  
"Well technically you _are_ experimenting on a ghost." Sabrina pointed out. She glared at the mob outside. "Why is it that the Church is always rushing where it isn't wanted or needed? I thought the extremely devout ones would never come within two blocks of this place."  
"Apparently, they will if they think we are sinning enough." Toledo added, not looking up from her files.  
"Huh, makes me glad I got kicked out of Sunday school."  
"What did you do? Pickpocket a priest? Burn down a chapel?"  
"What? No. Apparently I "asked too many questions" and "lacked faith". Haven't been to church voluntarily ever since."

Andrea took a deep breath before talking. "We've decided to carry on with everything, they have us surrounded-"  
"But we have a helicopter-"  
"There are over two hundred people in this building and we can't get them all out. We sent out a notice to the afternoon-night workers and told them to not show up. We put up more security in every door, but we can't force our way out without a few concussions and resistance, and we can't risk that. _We_ 'll be fine; they won't be able to get past the main doors, let alone here. And seeing as you are the only one that can get out, please do so." Toledo said, the last sentence aimed at Sabrina as an order.  
"And leave my research? Nuh-uh, _sobre mi cadaver_. And also: just the doors? What about the very-easy-to-climb walls and the windows? If I could climb them when I was human, then high-probability chance they can too."

Realization dawned on Toledo as she took out her staff phone and alerted the guards. "Check the perimeter! Right now before-!" Her order was cut short by the sound of glass shattering and shouting orders. Three men all dressed in black with masks and carrying military-grade guns climbed in from the windows.  
"Everybody on the floor! Now!" One of them - _the leader,_ Sabrina thought, judging by the deep tone and slightly wrinkled hands - shouted. He pointed his gun at them. Sabrina then started to worry about the portal and their research, wondering what the hell these madmen would do with them. The gunmen kept their guns aiming at them while the leader started preaching. "In the name of the Lord, you have been judged and found guilty! We shall deliver the sentence!" Sabrina tried her best not to roll her eyes. _I can turn intangible, so bullets pose no real threat for me, but what about my research...and López, Mandel, and Toledo - they aren't bulletproof.  
Then get rid of the shooters! Talk your way out! Distract them and throw them out the windows and into certain injury! Or kill them and claim self-defense!_

"I repent! Please let me go, I'm just here as a student, I didn't partake in their heretic ways." Sabrina pleaded, breaking her voice to make her sound scared and defenseless and twisted her facial features into those of a terrified little girl. The leader examined her, maybe questioning her word, until one of the gunmen came forward - he sounded younger, and certainly stronger by his grip on the gun.  
" _Jefe,_ she's a girl and she repented, we can let her go." The younger gunman said, lowering his gun, and looking at Sabrina "Get up, _nena_." He commanded. Sabrina got up from her knees and walked shakily towards the door until she could no longer feel their stares on the back of her head; her eyes began to glow green as she prepared to attack. _Nobody threatens me, nobody touches my research, nobody attacks the lab, and nobody hurts my coworkers._

She took concentrated and the gunmen's heads suddenly and sharply twisted with unnatural speed, enough to knock out but not to kill.

The gunmen fell down to the floor and the scientists rose up. Toledo lightly poked one of them with her shoe and send the others a reassuring look. "They're definitely knocked out, now what do we do with them?" She asked. Mandel proposed tying them up and using them as leverage; López suggested handing them over to the police; Sabrina suggested throwing them out the window and declare it self-defense. The team agreed unanimously on throwing them out the window. Sabrina used telekinesis to make each of them float a couple centimeters off the floor and then out the window they came from. There were shouts and screams from down the streets as the protesters gathered around the fallen men. López dialed the police and explained the situation.  
" _Hola policía?_ Police? We're from the Martinez Laboratories...yes where the protesters...three armed men broke in...no no, we are fine, it's the gunmen that need medical assistance...they fell from a third-story window." López explained, winking at Sabrina as he said the last bit.  
"I'm going to go check the rest of the building, see if any others broke in and make sure Martinez isn't locked in his office cradling a bottle of whiskey." Sabrina informed them as she changed into the Ghost Thief and turned invisible and intangible before phasing through the roof to Martinez's office.

Where Martinez was bleeding on the floor from a shoulder wound.

The gunman that had brought him down saw the Ghost Thief and opened fire, but his bullets just passed through, lodging onto the wall; he was thrown out the window as well. "MARTINEZ!" Sabrina said as she knelt down next to the elder scientist and examined the wound. The bullet was still inside him - _good, less chance of infection_ \- but it had perforated the Subclavian Artery, one of the Major Arteries of the Body, which meant that he would die in minutes due to a tremendous blood loss unless they got him to a hospital within ten minutes, tops. "DOCTOR MARTINEZ IS HURT! ANYBODY, COME QUICK!" She shouted, turning back into Sabrina Marquez before María, Martinez's secretary, stood up from hiding behind her desk and upon seeing the unconscious Martinez, ran to help. "The bullet hit a Major Artery, we need to get him to a hospital, _now_." Maria picked up the old man and headed downstairs, taking off her her heels and wielding one as a weapon in her free hand.

Sabrina phased through the floor to the lab and found Mandel helping Toledo and López put all the experiments and the portal under lock-down. "We can't risk anyone coming in here and take these away. Mandel, is the portal shut?" She asked, Mandel replied by signalling the control panel with his head as he locked the drawers.  
"It can only be unlocked by inserting a secret passcode only known by us four and Martinez." Mandel said. "It's ' _Ratita_ ' with a capital R. They'll never guess it." He laughed.  
Sabrina didn't return the gesture as she gave them a quick recap of Martinez's condition. "They are taking him to hospital. One of us should go to update the rest of us on his condition, while the rest stay here in case there are any more attackers and check that the other labs are okay." For a second, Toledo looked at her like she had just grown two heads or suggested they jump into a pool of sharks while covered in blood. "What?"  
"Who are you and what the hell did you do with Sabrina Marquez?" She asked.

Sabrina suddenly stood up straighter, with an air of power and respect around her - a trick she'd learned from leading the Ghost Army. _If they think you know what you are doing, then they'll follow._ "There is a big difference between harmless ghosts and possibly dead people - including our boss. Mandel, you have some medical training, go downstairs, take the first-aid kit, and see to any minor wounds or injuries. Toledo, go with Mandel, see that there are no harmful or radioactive substances or gas that may have leaked out. López, you and I go with Martinez, we'll keep you updated about his condition and call if anything happens." Sabrina commanded, her tone making it clear that there was no such thing as room for discussion. Mandel and Toledo left immediately; Sabrina grabbed onto López's wrist and phased them downwards to one of the empty annexes on the ground floor. Outside, the protesters were still protesting, now even more angrily due to the four fallen gunmen that were now being taken care of by one of the two ambulances in the scene.

Sabrina spotted Martinez's moccasins and wrinkled pale hands peeking from the other ambulance and nudged López, pointing at their boss. They approached the ambulance, pushing protesters out of their way until they reached it, showing their IDs as they asked for Martinez's condition. The paramedic treating him said that it was grave and that they would have to take him to the hospital. López jumped on the ambulance and hastily told Sabrina where to head as the ambulance doors closed and the vehicle sped through the streets.

Sabrina could do nothing more but to follow it from the air.

...

Her cellphone rang and Sabrina could already tell who was at the other end of the line.

" _Alo? Mama, tranqui._ Mom, I'm fine I never got to the lab...I saw the protesters and turned the other way...Right now I'm at the hospital, Martinez was shot - no, I'm not alone...I'm with Doctor López, he's one of the scientists I work with...What? Leave?...Oh, hi Dad... _yes, I'm fine_...I'll head home after we receive news on Martinez, then I'll leave and head straight home...I'll be safe, don't worry, love you too. _Chau._ " As she hung up, López came back from talking to the hospital nurse.

"How's Martinez?" Sabrina asked him as he sat down on a chair besides her. They had arrived two hours ago, but the doctors hadn't allowed either in the surgery, and Martinez had just gotten out.  
López let out a deep sigh. "He's asleep. You were right, the bullet did hit his subclavian artery, but unfortunately it also pierced his supraspinatus muscle. Martinez will have to rest for several weeks before he completely recovers."  
"But he'll live, that's what matters." She pointed out. And then added: "It could have been worse, you know, you or Toledo or Mandel or anyone else could have been seriously injured, maybe even killed."  
"Of course I know. I may work with the crazy new world of the dead, _ratita_ , but I'm first and foremost a man of science working for a man with controversial views and dangerous enemies. I knew the risks when I took the job, and I don't regret my decision." López said, staring at his feet. "But you stopped them."  
"You make it sound like we are operating in a war-zone-"  
"You _did_ lead an army..."  
" _Si, pero igual._ We are _scientists_ not soldiers-"  
"Well, I _did_ attend a military school during the dictatorship, close enough."  
"Stop interrupting me. At least the ghosts we can fight without facing backlash from politicians or the police - with humans it's eight times more complicated."

They were interrupted by a nurse asking for anyone looking for a "Alejandro Martinez". The two scientists stood up and the nurse led them to a room where Martinez was awake but still groggy and weak. He looked like shit. His white hair was like Einstein's, all over the place; his skin was paler than usual; and the wrinkles on his face were more noticeable; without his standard square-framed glasses, he looked like a completely different person. He was connected to several machines and had an IV injected into his forearm.  
"Miss Marquez...López... _que paso?_ What happened? The last thing I recall is the shooter and the bullet..." Realization dawned across his features as he looked at his bandaged shoulder. "Oh, well that explains why I can't really feel my arm." He said lightly, like he hadn't been shot by a religious nut job. "Important question, if you're here, who the hell is guarding the fortress?"  
"Toledo and Mandel and the security guards. Don't worry, we threw the ones that broke into our lab out the window. And considering the distinct _'crack'_ sound from one of them, I'm pretty sure they broke a bone, maybe two if we are fortunate and they fell on something." Sabrina reported, trying not to flinch from the invasive smell of antiseptic and bleach. "How are you feeling?"  
"I can barely feel my body, but otherwise, I don't see any limbs missing." Martinez sighed. "How many injured and how many dead?" He asked them seriously.  
"Several non-fatal injuries but no deaths on our part." López answered. Martinez attempted to move but they pushed him back down. " _Jefe_ , the bullet hit a major artery, you almost die from blood loss, you should be resting."  
"I got shot in the chest, not the legs, López." Martinez protested as Sabrina held him down and López left to find the nurse. "A captain never abandons his ship, Miss Marquez!"  
"Martinez, _la puta madre,_ I will not hold back on my strength if it means getting you to stay still. This is for your benefit." Sabrina insisted as López arrived with his nurse, holding a syringe in hand. "Don't worry, Martinez, we can run the lab while you recover." Martinez tried to protest, but she got him to stop shifting with a little telekinetic push.

The nurse injected a small dosage of a sedative and Martinez stopped fighting, slowly giving up. The nurse looked at them apologetically and smiled. "He will be passed out for several hours, you can stay with him if you want, but only until visiting hour is over, then I will have to move you to the waiting room." She said before leaving the room and going back to the hallway.

"Do you mind staying with our dearest boss? I'm going to fly back to the lab and make sure that no more religious fanatics tried to shoot the staff." Sabrina explained. When she decided she couldn't tolerate the stench for another second, she quickly got out of the hospital, ducked into a nearby alley and turned invisible before flying away to the lab. As she flew in, Sabrina saw that the almost all of the protesters had gone, leaving a few stubborn ones that were held back by the police, unyielding. Back at the labs, most workers had gone home, leaving only the janitors and the late-night workers; Mandel and Toledo were still in the Portal Project lab, going over the files and the experiments to make sure that nothing was missing.

"So, how's the old man holding up?" Mandel asked. Sabrina filled them in on his condition as she surveyed the aftermath of the attack. When she finished, Mandel hanged his head in respect before letting out a deep sigh. "Well, at least I don't have to search for a new job any time soon." He joked before going to check on the portal.  
Toledo shook her head in disbelief and went back to her work. "I still can't believe that they would attack us. A protest: sure - but breaking in and _holding a gun to our heads_ is a completely different level of unbelievable."

Her cellphone rang, and she picked it up only to be caught off guard by the onslaught of words from López. _"Tranquilisate_! Calm down, will you!? What is it?" López's words slowed down, but the words seemed to run over themselves to get out of his mouth.  
"The gunmen are here, in the hospital." López whispered. "They are asking for Martinez. Marquez? _Ratita?_ "

But Sabrina was already invisible and flying out the window.

...

Her entrance was cut short by the sight of an old priest holding a gun to López's head and a single young gunman holding a gun to Martinez's chest.

Sabrina closed the door behind her with one hand as her free hand went to her skirt's waistband, unsheathed her pocketknife and held it in front of her in a defensive stance. "Let Martinez and López go, and maybe you won't suffer as much. _Les voy a partir la puta cara._ " Sabrina threatened, glaring at the men as she prowled away from the door.  
The priest only laughed as he pushed the barrel against López temple harder. "Is this your backup? A teenage girl with a pocketknife? I was expecting something along the lines of a six-feet-tall boxing champion." He laughed, examining Sabrina from head to toe with a satisfied grin on his face. "What's your name, sweetheart?"  
"If you think you'll gain anything from killing these two, then you are wrong." Sabrina said, never lowering her knife.  
"My name is Father Agustin. I am the leader of a church nearby. And your recent...experiments...provoked a bit of an uproar in my community." Father Agustin introduced himself.

Sabrina's temper along with the restlessness from the past weeks threatened her focus on maintaining her cover, an itch in her mind urging her to use telekinesis to snap their necks and be done with it for good. _Kill them, kill them, kill them. You can do it, you can do anything and everything. You're Sabrina Marquez for fuck's sake_ _._

Father Agustin kept talking. "Ignacio here is my most loyal Altar Boy, and will do everything I tell him to. Blowing off your pretty little face and shooting your boss included." Ignacio, who couldn't have been older than seventeen, nodded proudly, but something about the look in his eyes as the priest looked away and the way his grip on gun was a feeble one was exactly the weakness Sabrina was searching for. _Hesitation and ambition, what a horribly advantageous combination. Perfect._

"Why are you even listening to this old idiot, anyway? You could just shoot him right now and do whatever the hell you want, Ignacio." Sabrina said, molding her voice so that it was both soothing and seductive at the same time. "He is an old priest who doesn't see your potential. I mean, look at you, holding a gun to a defenseless old man when you could make God himself sink down to his knees." As she leered closer, Father Agustin - still holding a gun to López's head - shouted at him, telling him that she was lying, damning him to an eternity in Hell, tempting him with sin. "Don't you see, Ignacio? Why waste your very valuable time and effort working for this _viejo loco_? Show him who is really in charge, prove it to him that you're no longer his puppet to control." Sabrina was now right behind him, almost whispering into his ear. "Show him that you're more than he ever bargained for."

Ignacio suddenly aimed at Father Agustin's head and fired.  
The bullet hit the priest right between the eyes.  
Father Agustin fell to the floor and Ignacio looked up at the ceiling victorious.

Sabrina shot a low-power ectoblast to the back of his head before he could move another centimeter and his victory faded almost as quickly as it had come. López stepped away from Father Agustin's corpse as he avoided the pool of blood forming around his head; Martinez could only stare at her as López called for a nurse to come quickly. Sabrina understood the way Martinez looked at her - a sickening combination of fear and amazement, but now wasn't the time to worry about that, instead she turned invisible and phased out of the room, becoming visible again in the bathroom and running back to Martinez's room. From the outside, it was all a blur after security came running into the room along with a nurse and some concerned visitors that had heard the gunshot - Sabrina spent most of that time informing Mandel and Toledo about what had happened, only going back into the room when everything was cleared and they let her pass. López decided to go back home before he "actually died and never got to see his family again", leaving Sabrina and Doctor Martinez alone in his hospital room.

Sabrina didn't really register anything after the gunshot. Her body and mouth moved on their own accord, talking on the phone and sitting down on the uncomfortable chair besides Martinez's bed, vaguely listening to what Martinez was saying to her - it felt like being underwater, every image blurry and every sound distant. The spell is broken when she feels Martinez's rough hand hesitantly settles on her forearm, like he's afraid she might pounce on him and kill him too.

"Miss Marquez, you are in shock and you should go home. The Detectives are going to be worried."  
She's exhausted and clearly can't hide, good enough reason to go home. "Will you be alright?" _Did I terrify you as much as I terrified myself?_  
" _Voy a estar bien._ You just manipulated a man into killing his boss - it's me who should be asking that question. Are _you_ alright?"

Sabrina didn't answer. "See you tomorrow, Martinez. _Buenas noches._ "

...

For the next week, Sabrina pretended that the whole _qu_ _ilombo_ never happened.

The lab was almost back to normal; Martinez had been released, and the only differences being the addition of more security guards and the scientists' new over-protectiveness their research. Martinez had supposedly given her the week off, telling her to get some extra hours of sleep and focus on something that wasn't dead - but she ignored him and went to work anyway, her work being the only thing that could come close to distracting her. Sabrina was delivering the list of things in need of repairing after the attack to Martinez that afternoon, not quite meeting his eye.

"Miss Marquez, you went into shock after what you did to Ignacio and Agustin. I gave you the week off for a good reason. _Are you alright?_ "  
"I haven't been alright for a while, Martinez. _I killed him -_ I may be perfectly capable of theft and manipulation and leading an army but _not murder._ " Sabrina said, her expression darkening. " _El mundo se fue al soberano carajo_ ; I don't remember the last time I was honest to my parents; the ghosts are becoming more violent by the apparition and the humans aren't any better; one hybrid is another manipulative bastard and the other is an idiot vigilante; and _I'm exhausted. Yo no puedo seguir así._ Did you ever actually stop and consider that _I'm half-dead_ and I truly don't know what will happen to me and it scares me to death."

Martinez had gone pale, slowly shrinking against his chair. "Sabrina, your eyes." They were glowing green, like they usually did when she was angry. But this time her pent-up rage made it ten times more scary.

Sabrina didn't register Martinez's concern as she kept talking, her vision blurring with tears and her cheeks matching the color of her blazer. If everything she had felt and kept buried for the past week had been held by a dam, then that dam was now completely obliterated; making her tone and volume go from normal to shouting. "I'VE HAD IT. I'VE HAD IT WITH GHOSTS AND THE GHOST ZONE AND HUMANS AND DANIEL AND VLAD AND THE NIGHTMARES AND THE OVERTHINKING AND-" A bottle of _Fernet_ hidden behind Martinez's desk exploded, the sound of broken glass bringing the rest of the world around her back into focus; her voice grew tired and turned to a whisper as she slumped her shoulders. "I died and there was no funeral because there was no need for one, right? I'm still walking and getting catcalled on my way to school, still getting bored in Physics, still lying to everyone around me."

Sabrina stared at the broken glass shards and the pitch black liquid pooling around them. Martinez took a swing from his flask and was about to extend it to her when he remembered her age and stored it back in its place. "You didn't say anything about the nightmares or the paranoia - trauma will do that to a person, but we could never predict the effects on you because..."  
"Every experiment sets a precedent." Sabrina finished, shaking her head and holding her forehead in exhaustion.

Martinez determined that it was safe to relax and reached for something in a drawer. "Miss Marquez, are you familiar with _Macbeth_?"  
Sabrina raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random question. "It's a Shakespeare play, right? Lots of monologues and old-timey language?"  
He laughs lightly, wheezing. "That's the gist of it. After he and his wife murder their king, they both start start to loose their minds - he hallucinates the ghost of a friend he had killed, she can't get the imaginary blood off her hands." He holds the book out for her to take and she hesitantly grabs it. "Read it and tell me if any witches approach you with prophecies and promises of becoming queen."  
To cheer the atmosphere of the room, Sabrina wiped her eyes and bantered. "I would look great with a crown on my head."  
"No doubt about it."

Sabrina chuckled and gathered her things from the lab before walking out of the building, this time with nothing blocking her path.

* * *

 **And so came the breakdown. This was a really heavy chapter but oh well, it pretty much wrote itself. Specials thanks to my therapist for helping me take my own experience in breakdowns and putting it into words.**

 **Also: I didn't mean to offend anyone, but at least here in Argentina, the Church has a pretty long record of getting violent or involved in the perpetuation of violence, so this is history repeating itself.**

 **Translations and glossary:**

 **Fernet: a popular bitter alcoholic drink brought to Argentina by Italian immigrants. Mixed with Coke to create "Fernet con Coca" a staple in any _pres_ (house party with alcohol before going to the club).**

 **"El mundo se fue al soberano carajo": the world has gone insane**

 **quilombo: mess**

 **"Voy a estar bien": "I'll be fine"**

 **Buenas noches: good night**

 **viejo loco: old madman**

 **"Les voy a partir la puta cara": I'm to break your fucking faces**

 **la puta madre: for fuck's sake**

 **Jefe: (male) boss**

 **nena: girl (usually said to teenage girls to degrade or insult them)**

 **"Si, pero igual": "yeah, but in any case"**

 **hincha-pelotas: annoying asshole**

 **"Sobre mi cadaver": over my dead body**

 **realismo mágico: magic realism (a literary current that appears in the Magic Realism Boom in the 1960s/1970s in Latin America starring famous authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Julio Cortazar and others. Magic realism stories feature extraordinary, fantastical, and improbable feats in a realistic and natural way, giving the reader the impression that the feats are a regular occurrence and gives no explanation as to how those feats became a part of that reality) A/N: personal recommendation: "Final del juego" by Julio Cortazar, and "Crónica de una muerte anunciada" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.**

 **Headcanon: seeing as both Mandel and Sabrina are the biggest nerds in the lab, it's not uncommon to hear something among the lines of "use the force, Marquez" or "wingardium leviOsa" *pencil levitates from the table***


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.**

 **Yes, this is a lighter chapter after the last one, but I wanted to write Sabrina enjoying herself and getting back on her feet after the breakdown.**

 **I'm very much guilty of skirting around the Danny Phantom Canon (almost everyone in the Phandom is) - keep in mind that in this franchise the lines between canon, fanon, and word of the creator are blurry as fuck - but I will always personally stick to the idea that most ghosts were once people who died and for x reason ended up in the Ghost Zone and when the portals were built, they went back to the human world. Some of this ghosts are so weak in power that they are nonexistent to the bare human eye - only detected by ghost-hunting equipment, other ghosts, and hybrids.**

 **The Network of Spies - end of Kindred Spirits/before Eye for an Eye**

Getting a surprise visit from Danny is always an inconvenience.  
Getting a surprise visit from Danny when she is getting ready for a _Quince_ is just asking to get kicked back to the US.

"What do you want? I have plans and you are not important enough for me to call them off." Sabrina stated almost nonchalantly as she finished applying the blood red lipstick and turned around to face the _yanqui._ "So be quick about it."  
Danny's expression turned to a desperate one. "Sabrina, I need your help. Vlad _made a clone of me_ and-" Sabrina held up her index, signalling him to shut up.  
" _Para-para-para-para._ A _clone_? _Huh_ , and I thought _I_ lost my mind - Vlad must have left it behind with his forgiveness." She said, chuckling at the last bit. Looking away from the mirror, Sabrina grabbed her heels and continue to speak as she slipped them on. "Now, I'm a little too preoccupied with a _Quince_ to handle science fiction and I'm not exactly dressed for the lab. So, if you come back tomorrow after two in the afternoon - maybe _then_ I'll help you."

Somewhat satisfied, Danny relaxed. "Thanks, Sabrina. Where are you off to?"  
"One of my classmates' _quinceañera_ party."  
"Oh, one of the girls in my class had a party like that-"  
"Let me guess: a ghost ruined it."  
"Exactly."  
"Well-" Sabrina said, smoothing the wrinkles of the black dress she'd worn to the theater. "I have to go. And if it helps-" she bid him farewell by giving him the typical Argentine kiss on the cheek, leaving a scarlet red mark behind, "-go dancing with your friends, remember you're a teenager who is allowed to have fun, and forget about ghosts for one night."

Sliding her knife into her sling purse as a final touch, Sabrina didn't even look back as Danny left and she strutted out of the house, ready to go.

...

Outside the gate, Manuel and Camila were waiting for her, the woman standing with her hands clasped in front of her and the man sitting cross-legged on thin air.

The two ghosts had become her main spies, her eyes and ears around the Ghost Zone and Amity Park if needed - all in exchange for a few favors like leading them to their living loved ones (in the case of Manuel) or telling them how history remembered them (in the case of Camila). Manuel died in 1982, a sophomore student in college who refused to go to war and tried to escape the draft, landing him in a clandestine prison and executed shortly after by a firing squad - he had shoulder-length hair he wore loose, only using what had once been his blindfold as a headband, much to the dismay of Camila; Camila died in 1811, a seventeen-year-old _criolla_ spy and informant who used her position in Colonial High Society to get information for the leaders of the May Revolution - she always wore an embellished gun hidden under the petticoat of her dress, curly dark hair pulled in a high bun with pieces framing her face, and a tendency to talk about her missions with her husband, who had also been a spy.

"Anything to report?" Sabrina asked the two ghosts she walked down the street to meet Nico in his apartment, trying not to trip on her heels.  
"Chaos in Amity Park; a mini girl version of Danny Phantom appeared; VP vs. DP petty fighting again. Nothing important or addressed at you or the city. _Nada de que preocuparse._ " Manuel said, gliding on his back and watching the sky while he spoke.  
Camila preferred to stand upright, but glided nonetheless, her feet never touching the ground. "Matters have been rather slow, no reports of any new ghosts entering the city; the resident troublemakers have been awfully quiet and the vultures with the strange hats have kept away too, they haven't appeared in weeks - sounds like they are brewing something if you ask for my insight.  
"Yes, it does. Gather a small group of the most unnoticeable ghosts we have to check that they aren't up to something - the children may want to do it, tell them it's a fun game of espionage and whoever has the most information wins. And remember that tonight and tomorrow you don't come for me if it's not absolutely necessary." Sabrina commanded and the ghosts nodded, leaving just as Nico appeared, closing the door of the building behind him before greeting Sabrina with a kiss on the cheek.

Nico had dressed for the occasion too - wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and dress pants with suspenders along with a blazer. The two friends inspected the other in search of stray hairs, ill-fitting something, or a wrinkle. Nothing - they nodded in approval at the other and laughed. "We look like tango dancers." Nico realized, bending over with a hand on his stomach. He stood up and pointed to her heels. "You even have dancing heels on." His face changed to a confused one. "Which I have never seen before and I'm pretty sure aren't yours."  
"They are from the time when my parents actually went out at night to have fun instead of chasing after criminals."  
"So...the early 70s?"  
"You could say that."

...

The party went surprisingly smooth.

It was midnight and the party had just started: the dance floor was crowded with classmates, friends, relatives, and family friends of the _Quinceañera_ and those who didn't dance sat on their tables to watch those who danced. Sabrina was more than grateful to be surrounded by humans without a ghost in sight - partying the night away and having a good time with Nico after the stressful weeks she'd had; the music blared and she forgot that she was a shit dancer, letting whoever was dancing with her lead - the particularly cute boy who had asked for more than one dance when the salsa rhythms snaked through the dance floor was a _very_ good dancer.

Neither Danny nor Vlad or any other ghost had even approached her during the rest of the celebration - which was suspicious and made her uneasy, thinking it was too good to be true and _someone_ had to be up to something. It wasn't until four in the morning, when she and Nico walked out of the salon after greeting the _Quinceañera_ goodbye and good wishes and all that - Sabrina had her heels in hand and Nico had rolled up his sleeves, both of them gleaming with sweat and barely keeping themselves awake - that Sabrina registered the two little dead boys trying to get her attention.

"Okay, whoever wakes up first in the afternoon wakes the other one, _dale_?" Nico proposed as they walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop. Sabrina put the heels back on for a little longer so as to not walk barefoot when she had to bolt to see what Bautista and Amaru had to report.  
"Agreed." Sabrina said, stifling a yawn. "I can't feel my feet or any part of my body from the waist down."  
"No wonder, that guy you danced with was a little _too_ energetic."  
"You danced with girls too, so shut it."

The ride back to Nico's was a slow one, so Sabrina took advantage of Nico drifting in and out of sleep to talk to the ghosts.

"Start talking. What is it?" Sabrina asked in a whisper.  
"Camila said to report to you after we finished our mission - we found something big in the big _óga_ with the cheese ghost." Amaru said, his braids moving with him as he spoke with his thick Guarani accent.  
" _Si si, doña Marquez._ Old man with cat is fighting with a scary ghost _-_ says the scary ghost has to get something for him and mentioned Buenos Aires." Bautista finished through his Spain Spanish accent. Interesting how the two boys had died almost at the same time at the hands of the other's people - Amaru a Guarani boy shot down by Spanish _conquistadores_ and Bautista a Spanish servant boy killed with an axe by Guarani slaves - but they worked so well together they might as well be brothers.  
"How did the scary ghost look like? Did he mention what he wanted? Did he say my name, described my appearance, or where to find me?"  
"Hair of green flames and he had lots of weapons; they didn't say anything else; the scary ghost left for Purgatory, and the old man didn't say anything else. _Perdone, doña Marquez._ " Bautista said, the two boys looking down at the ground.  
" _'Ta bien._ It's fine, you've done enough. _Gracias."_ Sabrina thanked them and the two ghosts took their leave, flying out just as the bus halted to a stop as it arrived at their stop.

Sabrina shook the sleeping Nico awake. " _Arriba arriba,_ get up, we are almost there, just a minute more and you can collapse." She said as she dragged him off the bus and to the door of the building. Nico groaned but managed to unlock the building door, lock it behind them, stay awake in the elevator, and just enough to open the door to the apartment before collapsing on the couch, not even making it to the bed. He started snoring and Sabrina closed the door as quietly as she could and levitated a few centimeters off the ground so as to not make any noise.

 _Now, to see what Vlad wants with my city._

...

She didn't even wake up Vlad, she decided to leave him an unpleasant surprise for when woke up.  
A small threat to say: _I listen and I know everything._

While he slept, the Ghost Thief turned off his security cameras and paid a visit to his lab to see if what Daniel said held any truth - and to see if Vlad had been stupid and desperate enough to try to clone her. The lab was partly destroyed, meaning a fight had taken place there - but what interested her was the capsules that must have contained the clones Danny was taking about. Vlad had _actually_ tried to successfully clone Daniel. What a reassuring sight it was to see no trace of any attempts to clone her - there were no vials containing her blood, hair, or any other form DNA or Ectoplasmic Signature. Locating Vlad's files and his research on how he almost managed to create clones, the Ghost Thief didn't think twice before grabbing them, folding them in half, and stuffing them into her purse. _It's not plagiarism if the person who made it can't publish it and didn't think of publishing - and besides, this is just a stepping stone for my own research._

Armed with everything she needed, she got out and activated the cameras and the security alarms again, making it seem like nothing had been disturbed to make the threat even more pressing. _I can get in and out without you noticing and you can't stop me._ Smirking at her finished work, the Ghost Thief flew back into the Ghost Zone and headed to Buenos Aires, hurrying to get back to Nico's apartment in case any of the Oliveiras woke up and didn't find her sleeping - which would be a disaster. When she was finally back in Buenos Aires and in Nico's apartment, Sabrina wiped the lipstick off, took off her heels and collapsed on the spare mattress next to the couch where Nico slept peacefully, both of them still dressed in their formal attire.

Sabrina didn't notice when she fell asleep, she only noticed being woken up hours later at midday by Mariana, Nico's mother. " _Arriba, a despertarse mis queridos vagos._ Wake up you two, it's time for lunch." She said before dropping a glass of ice cold water on their faces, making the two teenagers sit up and shiver as they wiped the water away from their eyes.

" _La puta madre!_ _Mamá!_ Was the water necessary?" Nico asked as he got up from the soaked couch and wrapped his arms around himself to try to get warmer. "We didn't even drink!"  
"Did you? _Really?_ "  
"How dare you, Mariana? Don't you trust us? Your son and his best friend who makes sure he doesn't get into trouble? If you don't believe him, then I promise you that our lips didn't savor a drop of alcohol." Sabrina vouched, wiping the water into her hair to keep the curling fly-way hairs in place.  
Mariana hesitated for a moment but ultimately believed them. "Okay then, lunch is ready. Come eat before it gets cold."

As she wolfed down a plate of spaghetti, Sabrina began to think. _I wonder how Vlad reacted when he realized his position in all of this._

...

"That wretched thief!" Vlad shouted as he failed to find his research papers and quickly realized who'd stolen it.

He'd sent Skulker to Buenos Aires with the intention of getting Danielle back - based on the assumption that Daniel may have found himself out of his depth and resorted to the thief without honor or morals for help as a desperate attempt to hide the failed clone. The unnerving problem of having a wild card like Sabrina Marquez was that both her reactions and her motives were unpredictable - and Vlad didn't like the unpredictable. He liked behavioral patterns and repetitive responses, enemies who never learned and who didn't see past his facades, and ghosts who feared him enough to do his bidding. Even if Danielle wasn't hiding in Buenos Aires, Vlad still needed to have a talk with Sabrina Marquez.

"Maddie, send this message to the Red Huntress: 'I have a special mission for you, clear your schedule'." Vlad said to the system.  
"Sure thing, dear. Relaying message to Red Huntress. I'm so glad I chose you over that idiot Jack Fenton!" The disembodied voice of Maddie the Hologram replied, the last sentence a fake statement.

Grinning, Vlad Masters clasped his hands behind his back and paced around his lab. "Let's see how well you manage against the greatest ghost hunters, Miss Marquez." He said to no one in particular. "You were a worthy opponent while you lasted." He'd ordered the vultures to stay in the States, already gathering enough data on Marquez's whereabouts to know the exactly where to strike should he ever need to do so. And now he decided it was the perfect time to get rid of the Argentine Wild Card.

"Checkmate."

He didn't notice the ghost possessing his cat listening to every word. And he certainly didn't see it leave for the Ghost Zone the second he left the lab.

...

Sabrina stared at the miniature female version of Daniel and decided that Vlad could seriously use some therapy.  
Death and permanent exile could work as well.  
Anything as long as he wasn't surrounded by chemicals, weapons, or other ghosts.

"You shouldn't be here. Vlad has sent Skulker here and I can already guess who is his target." Sabrina said, looking at the clone. " _Hola._ I'm Sabrina - I don't suppose Vlad ever mentioned me or attempted to make any clones that looked like me?"  
"Sabrina this isn't the best time to interrogate-" Danny intervened but the clone spoke up.  
"He didn't make anymore clones of Danny and he didn't try to make clones of anyone else - but he mentioned your name, said you were 'too unpredictable to make a good worker'." The girl said, looking up at her. "And I'm Danielle by the way."  
"Ah, _Daniela._ Maybe you wouldn't mind stopping by some other time for a couple of tests to make sure nothing is wrong?"

Danny cut the conversation short, this time for good. "Look, she has nowhere to go - can she stay with you for a while?"  
"Did you not hear me or did I speak in Spanish? Vlad has sent Skulker here with a mission - you are being predictable and it's going to get you - and her - captured and killed." Sabrina reasoned, stating the obvious. "Hiding her in a big city is a smart move - and a surprising one coming for you-"  
"Did you just complime-"  
" _No me interrumpas._ A big city is a good choice, but not _this_ city. Try one of the exile cities - people there usually know how to cater to runaways and exiles."  
"Exile cities?" Danielle asked, never having heard the term before.  
"Grand Cayman? Miami? Anywhere in Switzerland? Political exiles, frauds, tax evaders, and foreign companies who suck all the money out of entire countries hide there. But if you're truly desperate, you could do what some Nazis did and hide in the Cordoba province or in the Patagonia - maybe even in the Malvinas or the Sandwich Islands if you are _extremely_ desperate. Vlad won't know where to find you and general ignorance will keep you safe."  
"Are you sure that Vlad won't find her in any of those places?" Danny said, confused as to what she meant - also not knowing which places she was referring to.  
"Even you don't know what I'm talking about." Sabrina replied before turning to Danielle. "The Malvinas are English overseas territory if you can't understand a word of Spanish. Go there and assuming that you can lay low and steal without getting caught, you should be fine."

Disappointed with his original plan, but armed with a new one, Danny and Danielle left, leaving Sabrina alone in the lab.

 _Aleluya, al fin se fueron. Hallelujah, they are finally gone._ Sabrina grabbed the clone research she'd stolen from Vlad and read it closely, wanting to see how Vlad had managed to clone a halfa and seeing if she could clone complete ghosts or complete humans and gain the credit - Vlad wouldn't dare to speak up against her due to the evidence she held against him. She had him cornered.

Sabrina spends the rest of the afternoon in the lab, a mad scientist in the making.

...

"There will be two professional ghost hunters in the city at the same time and you're not concerned in the slightest?" Camila said, incredulous.

It was three in the morning in the Recoleta Cemetery and the Ghost Thief was sitting cross-legged atop a coffin inside one of the many mausoleums with Camila and Manuel, Bautista and Amaru playing tag with the other ghost children. "I can solve everything the billionaire bastard throws at me.  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Manuel asked.  
"Yes: distract, sabotage, annoy, and make them forget _who_ they're after. One is a human with ghost hunting technology, she can only harm and see you with her suit so get it off her and we'll leave her defenseless in a strange city; the other is a ghost that specializes in hunting strange ghosts, so that one is going to be a little bit harder, do whatever you have to sabotage his equipment and get him far away from me."

With everything settled, the Ghost Thief stood up and stretched, ready to head back home. " _Buenas noches_ and thank you for your help."  
"Well, in all truth we don't exactly have any other business to tend to - so by all means, thank _you_." Camila expressed, a gloved hand over her heart. Manuel nodded in agreement. " _Buenas noches,_ Sabrina."

The Ghost Thief left the cemetery, waving goodbye at Bautista and Amaru, who shouted _adios_ from below.

...

Her parents were home, that was odd.

The Ghost Thief changed into Sabrina Marquez and then into her pajamas, combing her hair with her hands as she went downstairs for some _mate_ \- only to find the kitchen already occupied by her parents, both of them sitting at the kitchen table.

" _Hola, amor._ How was the _quince_?" Gabriela asked as Sabrina greeted them both with a hug and a kiss.  
"Fine. I left your heels by your door, by the way."  
Gabriela shook her head and followed with an _it's fine_ gesture. "Keep them, you are going to use them more than me."  
"Why are you here, I thought you were out investigating a case?"  
"We _were,_ until the murderer turned out to be a ghost and we can't chase after it." Fabian said, taking another sip of his tea. "17 cases involving dangerous ghosts and we still have no equipment." He muttered under his breath.

Sabrina looked away, an idea forming in her head. _Not for long._

* * *

 **And that's it. Valerie is finally going to meet the Ghost Thief and learn a few things while Skulker tries to find a prey in leader's clothing (keep in mind that Skulker has never gone after the Ghost Thief as his main prize is Danny, only recognizes her as the ghost girl that lead the Battle of Ghosts and will therefore be very confused the next chapter). So it's going to be an interesting game of manipulation, lying, tricking, and (some) fighting.**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **buenas noches: goodnight**

 **no me interrumpas: don't interrupt me**

 **"Arriba, a despertarse mis queridos vagos.": "get up, wake up my dearest lazy ones"**

 **la puta madre: for fuck's sake**

 **óga: (guarani) house**

 **Quinceañera/Quince: a coming of age party that is similar to a Sweet Sixteen**

 **para-para-para-para: (with gestures) hold the fuck up**

 **Adios: goodbye (more formal/not really used in Argentina)**

 **yanqui: someone from the United States**

 **criolla/criollo: (used in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries) someone with Spanish parents but born in the colonies. Most of the leaders of the May Revolution in 1812 and the Independence from Spain in 1816 were criollos.**

 **"Nada de que preocuparse": nothing to worry about**

 **doña: Lady/Mistress - used mostly in Mexico and Spain**

 **conquistadores: colonizers**

 **'ta bien: 'tis fine (informal and shortened version of: It's fine)**

 **Perdone: forgive me (formal/used mostly in Spain)**

 **sí: yes**

 **arriba: up**

 **The Malvinas: also known in English as "The Falklands". See: the Falklands War in 1982.**

 **Nazis hiding in Argentina: after the defeat of the Axis powers, many Nazis and other fascists followed the Vatican Ratline to Argentina - including known figures like Josef Mengele and Adolf Eichmann. It is widely theorized that Hitler and Eva Braun also hid in Argentina - the theories increased after they found an underground bunker in Misiones which is thought to have been built as a refuge for Hitler and his top officials.**

 **Writing the ghosts is fun because I have so much variety.  
** **HEADCANON: Sabrina's favorite festivities are Carnaval and New Year's Eve. Nico's favorite holidays are the ones where there is no school.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman**

 **Two Ghost Hunters vs. Sabrina Marquez - shortly after an Eye for an Eye**

Valerie Grey was lost.

When Vlad Masters messaged and tasked her with a special mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she was confused as to what he might need her to hunt there, but then she got the details along with a warning. _"Don't believe anything that comes out of her mouth_ \- he had told her - _this one is smarter than your average ghost, she'll try to trick you, lie to you, and manipulate you. Don't fall for any of her tricks."_ The ghost she was after was known as the Ghost Thief: an elusive ghost who despite living on another country found it entertaining to harass Mr. Masters by stealing small things and interfering with his plans.

Valerie was surprised by people's reactions to her - they shouted what sounded like insults, ran away in fear, threw bottles to make her go away - and when she tried to shoot at the seemingly invisible ghosts that were always watching her and missed - hitting a pedestrian, shop, or building instead - the locals finally turned fully against her and forced her to ditch the suit and chase the Ghost Thief in her normal clothes with only a tracker to help. _Seriously people, can't you see that I'm on your side?!_

However, even now that she wasn't wearing her suit, humans were still the biggest nuisance, ghosts barely making their presence known: men cat-called and harassed her, some even going as far as trying to grab her; there were streets vendors trying to get her to buy everything from pirated movies to jewelry; pickpockets roamed the streets, little rats that stole wallets and cellphones. _Ugh, the minute I catch this ghost I'm getting out of this disgusting city._

Suddenly someone sing-songed "Red Huntress" and Valerie looked into an alley to see a ghost girl fitting the Ghost Thief's description leaning against the wall, arms crossed and one leg propped up nonchalantly. Valerie summoned her armor and attacked, the Ghost Thief disappearing before the blast hit her - leaving a scorch mark on the wall instead. The Ghost Thief reappeared at the top of the building and waved mockingly. "Catch me if you can, _R_ _oja._ " She flew away and the Red Huntress chased after her, firing as she slid on her hoverboard. The Ghost Thief flew into a church and Valerie was forced to continue the chase inside without her suit, fearing the reaction of the locals if she destroyed any religious relics.

Inside, there were only a few people - a priest talking with a man, a blonde teenage girl lighting candles, some children in a Catholic school's uniform - but no sign of the Ghost Thief, but it wouldn't have surprised her if one of the invisible ghosts were watching her, reporting her actions to whoever they answered to. Valerie walked around, trying to find the Ghost Thief in this place without calling attention to herself. In the silence of the church, she was a little bit too aware of her own footsteps and her out-of-place feeling.

The Ghost Thief's voice called her name again, this time coming from the teenage girl that had been lighting a candle, her eyes glowing green - a clear sign of overshadowing. She was sitting in one of the benches; she patted the spot next to her, signalling her to sit down. "Welcome to Buenos Aires, Red Huntress, I hope that you're enjoying your visit." Valerie hesitated but sat down beside her, ready to attack. The girl noticed and wiggled her finger like a scolding mother. "Nuh-uh, if you attack this meat puppet, you'll find yourself in prison with no money, no documents, and weapons that will only do you a disservice - and let us not forget, where Vlad Masters will not even bother to raise a finger to get you out."  
"And what do _you_ know, _spook_?" Valerie said through gritted teeth.  
"A lot more than you do, Valerie Grey." The Ghost Thief said, a sly smile on her puppet's pale freckled face. Valerie looked up and tensed. _How-?_ "Vlad Masters is not the only one with people and ghosts working for him. You were born and raised in Amity Park, fairly rich until your dad lost his job due to a ghost-related accident involving a ghost dog and Danny Phantom, works other jobs besides ghost hunting for Vlad Masters, has been the Red Huntress for a little bit over a year. Did I get anything wrong?"  
Valerie said nothing, only growled. "What do you want, ghost?"  
"You may be familiar with Skulker. Green flaming hair, armor, self-proclaimed 'best hunter in the Ghost Zone'."  
"Yeah, so?"  
"I want you to hunt him."

A tempting offer considering the time Skulker spent destroying Amity Park in his hunt for Danny Phantom and other ghosts - one time he'd even gone as far as to hunt her. But what the Ghost Thief was offering was still suspicious - if she knew so much about her, then she may have known about that particular case...or not. She'd never heard about or seen the Ghost Thief before now, she didn't even completely understand _why_ Vlad wanted so desperately for her to be brought to him. Valerie imagined that she must have done something - stealing something important, maybe? She was the Ghost _Thief_ after all.

"And what if I don't want to? The second you leave this girl's body - what stops me from kicking your ass then?"

The girl lifted a bunch of tapes from her jacket's pocket. "Then, _señorita_ Grey, here in my hand I hold the key to exposing the identity of the Red Huntress as a teenage girl - I don't think the authorities in Amity Park, the Guys in White, your dearest investor, or your father will be happy about that." The girl winked, a secret joke that was lost to Valerie. _Just how much power does this chick have?_  
"Investor - what, do I look like a business to you?"  
"You are another of Vlad Masters's investments - don't fool yourself by pretending that you're anything else to him. He sponsors you and you give back to him by hunting the ghosts that annoy him. Y'know, exactly what you're doing now." The Ghost Thief taunted, her ectoplasmic green eyes glowing mischievously. "He's been exploiting your goals and desires so that you do what he wants by believing that he actually cares about what you want - Manipulation 101."  
"Exactly what you are doing right now."  
The girl grinned sheepishly. "Oh no-no-no, _this_ is blackmail and with only a tad of manipulation. But we can ignore that - you have no grudge against me, I don't care about you - but Skulker has hunted you before, now, wouldn't it be nice for you hunt him and give him a taste of _stronger_ medicine?"

Now it was Valerie's turn to smile. "It would be nice."  
"Of course it would be. Vlad has sent him after me as well - proof he doesn't trust you enough to capture me and bring me to him. Skulker will be here soon enough." She has a meditating expression on her face. Like she's considering something. "You have the potential to do good, Valerie Grey. I hope that one day soon you'll see what the man you're working for is capable of and decide what you _really_ want. If that happens, then I'll introduce myself properly and we can have a honest conversation. Until then-" The girl possessed by the Ghost Thief got up and straightened.

"Happy hunting, Red Huntress."

...

"General!" Skulker said when he came out of the Ghost Zone and found himself in front of the ghost girl that had led the Battle of Ghosts.

"Hello again, Skulker. I believe Vlad Masters has sent you here with mission, but as of now, that mission is cancelled and I'm tasking you with another one." The General said, standing straight.  
"I'm after-"  
"The Ghost Thief - I know - but I have business with her first and she isn't even that interesting. Right now, there is an even better prey that is going to hunt you down as well. You tried to hunt her once, the Red Huntress? She and Phantom beat you. Well, now she is alone and it's your chance to get your prize."  
Skulker's expression changed, going from mild annoyance to interest to arrogance. "And you think that giving me another prey is going to be enough to distract me?"

 _No, giving you another prey is going to make you forget about my existence altogether for a time. You hunt Danny but not Vlad, that means that Vlad has done something for you to_ work _for him instead of hunting him - you already respect me as a leader and strategist, but if that isn't enough then I'll show you that I'm just dangerous (or more so) than Vlad Masters._

"Vlad Masters has sent the Red Huntress after the Ghost Thief as well because he thought you weren't good enough to capture her. He doesn't consider you the "Greatest Hunter in the Ghost Zone", and frankly, he may be right. You can't even catch a teenage girl in a suit of armor." The Ghost Thief taunted. "Vlad Masters is going to get his chat one way or another, but the Red Huntress has never step foot in this city before - you have. You have an advantage, use it and settle the argument. Put a halt to the rumors that you are no longer _the best_ by beating the Red Huntress."

Skulker seemed reanimated, a determined expression etched on his face. "Yes, I _am_ the best ghost hunter! That huntress is going to regret the day she started hunting!"  
"I bet she will, I heard she was going to look for you in the Recoleta Cementery at around midnight. Beat her to the punch,"  
"Good day to you, General!" He said with a salute and left, breaking the window and ignoring the fact that he wasn't in Amity Park.

Sabrina smirked as another piece moved to its predicted place.

...

"Sabrina Marquez, have you gone mad?" Camila said during their meeting in the mausoleum, an hour before the two ghost hunters arrived.

"I may be a mad scientist but I'm not a mad manipulator - I know what I'm doing. It's a good plan. And besides, I barely put them on the ring, the rest is their actions. I'm just going to drop the hunters by Vladimir's mansion after all of this is over."  
"So you're opening old wounds and salting them up so that they will fight each other instead of you?" Manuel repeated, making a this-is-a-surprisingly-good-idea face.  
"Yes and no, they will fight each other until they exhaust the other - enabling me to capture both of them and deliver them to Vlad Masters' doorstep tied up in gift wrapping paper and a bow."  
"You're deviating from the original plan?" Camila asked, setting down her embellished gun she had been loading, even if it was practically useless. "You said-"  
"I know what I said - that was before my little chat with Danny and learning new and valuable information. It just so happens that the two hunters Vlad sent after me are enemies. The fire is already there, I'm merely acting as the _carbonero_ and fanning the flames."

Her conscience suddenly chimed in, uninvited as always: _this isn't right! Listen to me for once in your life!  
_ Ego and pride replied, together: _show that bastard who is the boss!_

Smirking, ego and pride won the argument.

...

Sitting on the gravestones, the Ghost Thief and the other ghosts watched the fight like they were watching a _fútbol_ match in true Argentine fashion: loudly, with colorful curses, and enthusiastic. The Ghost Thief had gone as far as to _buy_ cinema popcorn to munch on as she watched her enemies fight each other instead of her - some of the ghosts were cheering on and making comments and _hinchadas de fútbol_ on the go.

"The rocket! Use the rocket!" Said a man of twenty wearing a newsboy cap with a cigar in his mouth.  
"Hit him until he forgets the day he died!" Shouted a girl in a 70s band t-shirt with a machine gun resting on her lap.  
" _Pelea! Pelea! Pelea! Pelea!_ " Chorused a group of young boys and girls sporting clothes from different eras.  
"I haven't felt this alive in centur- MAKE HER REGRET THAT!" Commented an old man in armor to the ghost beside him before shouting.  
" _Oleeee-ole-ole-oleeee! Bardooooo! Bardooooo!_ " Chanted several ghosts wearing _fútbol_ club t-shirts and bandannas.

The hunters could see them but the rest of the world couldn't. Valerie was surprised by the sheer amount of ghosts that sat on the gravestones or in midair cheering on her or on Skulker to win - she was even more surprised at the fact that the ghosts were...just sitting there. Unlike in Amity Park, these ghosts weren't attacking each other or anyone else - The Ghost Thief was there as well, clapping and gesturing and throwing her hands in the air as she watched her plan unfold. Valerie launched another blast just as Skulker fired another rocket, each missile hitting its intended target.

That was the last thing she remembered.

...

Sabrina watched as her enemies finished each other.

The Red Huntress fell unconscious to the ground, her armor disappearing and leaving Valerie Grey with a few injuries but nothing grave. Skulker's armor laid useless on the roof of one of the mausoleums - the little green ghost that was Skulker squirming and grunting as he attempted to get out. He barely made it out when he found himself captured in a (stolen) Fenton Thermos.

 _Chiche, now all I have to do is deliver them to Vlad..._

The other ghosts cheered - clapping and shouting and throwing their fists in the air. Suddenly one of her Amity spies came back flying at top speed, disappointed that the spectacle was done before he got the chance to see it. "Mistress, I have information of interest about Amity Park." He said, standing straight like the soldier he was, awaiting orders. His name was John - he'd been an English soldier in the Navy during the last British Invasion back in 1807; died when the people in the city decided to fight back by throwing hot oil, rocks, and piss at the invaders.  
Smiling at the reassurance of her authority, Sabrina saluted back and answered. "Report, soldier."  
"Masters has run for Mayor and won. He and Fenton have been constantly playing tricks on each other to embarras their opponent for no apparent reason."  
" _Aja,_ any consequences that might harm us?"  
"They got incredibly close to exposing each other's secret identity."

 _And by default, mine.  
If Vlad and Danny are exposed - there are only a few things that would prevent them from giving me away as well.  
Danny may keep the secret - but if they torture him or Vlad to get the information out then that's it.  
But I can hide behind the name of a big company and a rich boss and his army of lawyers. And my position.  
So can Vlad, he has enough money to hire lawyers to snake him out of trouble. Danny is really the only one with no way to protect himself.  
Those two are going to pay for putting us at risk - I'll make sure of it. _

Gathering a handful of her field agents, Sabrina began concocting a trap to get all the hybrids in the same place at the same time to sort things out like rational beings.  
Whether they liked it or not.

...

"I believe these are yours." Sabrina said from the leather chair as she flicked on the switch to reveal the tied up and unconscious Valerie, Skulker's armor, and a captured Skulker. Maddie the Cat comfortably rested in her lap, making her look like a Latina teen version of the Godfather.

Vlad stared at his hunters and then lifted his gaze to the teenage girl in his chair who was stroking his cat. Sabrina was scratching Maddie the Cat behind the ears, the white feline purring in pleasure as it moved against her touch in approval. Traitor. "How long have you been sitting there just for the dramatic effect?"  
Sabrina looked up from the cat and shrugged her shoulders. "Not long. Now, would you mind explaining to me why you are after me _this time_?"

Vlad started to say something but was interrupted when Danny crashed through the window, gritting his teeth and landing in a defensive stance. "I got the message. What happened?"

Now that they had both walked into her trap, Sabrina put her plan to work - signalling the hiding ghosts to shut down the room to make sure that none of them could escape this discussion. "I found out about your little prank war. Are you two idiots insane or do you have a death wish?" Sabrina crossed her arms and turned to Vlad. "You are an adult, _act like one._ " Danny laughed under his breath and she turned to him, equally angry. "The same goes to you, Daniel - grow up. Destroy this entire town and burn it to the ground for all I care - but coming close to exposing the other's secret identity is an entirely different - more dangerous - thing, _par de brutos sin cerebro_."

Vlad tried to defend himself. "Daniel started it when he sent the _Guys in White_ after me and destroyed my mansion!"  
"You made the walls disappear while I was showering and the whole school saw me naked!" Danny fired back. "I'll never live that down!"  
"Oh, as if your reputation was _so_ stellar before that! Those idiot agents having me on their record is bad enough for all of us - lawsuit or not!"  
"Well, maybe if you stopped trying to get my mom to marry you at every turn and _get over the fact that she married someone else._ "  
"The position remains open, Daniel. If you ever want to be the son of a much better man - you know where to find me."

 _"God, I should have brought the popcorn, this is even more entertaining than watching the Hunters fight,"_ Sabrina thought as she and the cat watched the two archenemies throw insults and shade at each other like it was a tennis match. Back and forth - back and forth - back and forth. She turned to the cat and petted the white feline in the head. "If you get bored of him, come find me - I know a place with other cats and infinitely better ghosts." Danny and Vlad had progressed (regressed?) to physical fighting - literally at each other's throats. " _Uyy mierda_ _, se armo la fiera._ Okay, time to interfere."

Sabrina jumped in the middle of the fight and stood with her arms spread to keep the two archenemies apart. " _A ver, pendejitos de jardín, no se peleen."_ Sabrina said in a kindergarten teacher voice - in her point of view, she was talking to two small children who pointed at the other because _he started it!_ "How about you two stop fighting so that we can figure out how to erase any threatening damage before any of us are exposed?"  
"Then what do you suggest, Miss Marquez?" Vlad scowled.

Sabrina stood straighter, shoulders squared back. _The General_. Vlad heard the ghosts talk and whisper about the General - the clever unknown ghost girl that led them to victory in the Battle of Ghosts. He'd known it was Sabrina Marquez behind that title - an unexpected result in his plan. When he planned to bring back Pariah Dark, Sabrina Marquez had barely been a back-burner in his mind - he predicted that she would either never hear of the attack or destroy her portal. Part of what made Marquez dangerous wasn't the fact that she ruled over a pretty big number ghosts - call it by whatever name, it was ruling and governing - but the fact that they submitted to her willingly and followed her without second thought. And for the half-life of him, he couldn't figure out how she'd done it.

"Since it's obvious that petty fighting isn't going to get us anywhere - I propose a truce." Sabrina said, standing between them with her hands on her hips. "We agree not to publicly or privately dispose of any of our identities or risk exposure. Also, if it should come to the point where one of us is captured and revealed as a halfa, then they lie: as far as they are concerned they are the only hybrids in the world."

Danny raised his hand. "And what about my friends? They know your identities as well as mine. If they are questioned-"  
"Then they lie too - but they lie well. Stories make sense, excuses are coordinated and kept track of, the details agree. No loose ends, no blowing things out of proportion, and no blatant lies. No unnecessary attention. We've been lying and keeping secrets for a while now-" she pointed at Vlad- "-you for twenty years. This isn't new or impossible - this is _necessary_."

Vlad Masters wondered when and where and how and why had Sabrina Marquez learned to weave such complex webs of lies. Maybe if she lived in a different country, were a little older, and enjoyed making people miserable she'd make a great politician - or a spy. "If I didn't know you already, I would assume you to be a politician, Miss Marquez."  
Sabrina turned to Vlad, raging. "Flattery won't help you here - your shitty little political stunt isn't going unnoticed either, _Masters_. A political charge in the public eye where enemies and the government will constantly look at your personal life in search of threats? The Mayor of a useless town with little to no importance or profitable resources?"  
Danny protested. "Hey!"  
Sabrina ignored him. "'Dumb move' doesn't even begin to describe it. Both of you pulled extremely stupid, dangerous, and reckless moves. So you can end the useless dick-measuring contest and start to understand that the world doesn't end in this fucking town's limits and your actions have consequences on each other, the Ghost Zone, and, unfortunately, me." Sabrina said, her tone akin to the General's. No room for discussion - just orders to follow.

There was silence as the two _yanquis_ soaked in the terms of the truce and its conditions along with its impacts on them. Sabrina's ghosts remained still and collected, awaiting orders and acting as witnesses on her behalf. Danny focused on what had happened the last couple of days and then did something he hadn't done then: thought about what could happen. His face fell. _One mistake and I could have..._

"Okay." Danny said, cutting the silence. "I accept the truce." Sabrina grinned triumphantly - the teenagers turned to him.  
Vlad agreed, shrugging his shoulders. "Seems reasonable. May I ask what is the punishment for breaking the truce?"  
Sabrina stared him down - or at least tried to, as Vlad stood a head taller than her. "Think your worst nightmare and multiply it by ten - that will be a mercy compared to what I can and will do to any of you if you rat us out."

The lock-down was lifted and Danny left, muttering something about doing damage control before flying out. Sabrina and Vlad stayed still, glaring at each other.

"So: Midas. Explain."  
"It was but a little test of your abilities." He said, using the same uninterested tone he had during the discussion. "Which you passed with flying colors, so congratulations."  
 _He's scared._ Sabrina realized and let out a chuckle, crossing her arms. "You're scared. You wanted to see what I was capable of in case I ever turned on you." She shook her head, amused. "That's depressingly pathetic even for you."  
Vlad scowled, eyes glowing briefly before regaining his posture. "Midas was a test, yes. But that's not the reason why I sent Skulker and the Red Huntress after you." Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Miss Marquez?"  
"Right now a _milanesa napolitana_ with a side of french fries." Pause. Sabrina leaned against the work-table, hooking her hands on the edge to keep her balance. "Why do you care?"  
"Because you have ghosts who are willingly following your orders and I can't seem to figure out how you did it."  
She smirks. "And why should I tell you?"  
"Because if power is what you want, imagine how much you could have if we worked together."

Sabrina cocks her head to the side, as if she was considering it, before laughing it off and pushing herself off the table. "You must have confused me for a mirror. It's common for older people to need glasses, so nothing to be ashamed of." The portal opened with a telekinetic push of a button. "You are power-hungry bastard who can't handle rejection and has a control streak that could result in people getting hurt - rethink your past actions before deciding that I must have used some mystery spell to make ghosts follow my orders."

She was gone without another word, her ghosts following suit, leaving him alone with two unconscious ghost hunters and a cat.

* * *

 **Yes, I'm doing season three - and changing it because this is when the canon starts to become nonsense (looking at you Butch Hartman).**

 **Glossary and Translations:**

 **yanquis:** **Americans (degrading)**

 **Roja: red**

 **pelea: fight**

 **bardo: insult match**

 **hinchada de fútbol: football chants**

 **"par de brutos sin cerebros": "pair of brainless brutes"**

 **"uyy mierda, se armo la fiera": "oh fuck, shit's getting real"**

 **"A ver, pendejitos de jardín, no se peleen": "okay, fucking kindergarten children, play nice"**

 **chiche: okey dokey**

 **carbonero: someone who stands on the sidelines of a fight and cheers on, shouting at the fighters so that they fight harder**

 **hijo de puta: son of a bitch**

 **HEADCANON: The Detectives Marquez have been investigating crimes together since they were teenagers in 1976.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I promised action and action I bring forth. Enjoy.**

 **"TGT + DP vs. the GiW" - a little rewrite of "Double-Cross my Heart"**

It was late October when the ghosts she stationed in Amity Park ran back to Buenos Aires fearing for their afterlives with claims and proof that the Guys In White had become more dangerous - making Sabrina shut down the portal and, deciding that Daniel and Vlad would react accordingly and remember the truce, simply chose to lay back.

That was not the case.

One late Saturday night, she was at a _milonga_ with Nico - their second time going out as regular teenagers after a friendly bet: whoever made-out with the most people could pick the next club, while the loser pays for the other in the next _pre -_ currently dancing with a boy she would definitely enjoy a bit more after the dance was over and win the bet in the process. Unfortunately that plan would later be forfeited as she received a report that Daniel had come to Buenos Aires in desperate need of assistance. _Wacho del orto que hincha las pelotas un sábado a la noche._ In any case, Sabrina decided to let him come to her to assess the situation and then kick him back to the US for interrupting her night out.

It wasn't until her new dance partner dipped her that she caught sight of the other halfa standing at the side of the dance floor with a confused look on his face.

"Daniel, what an unpleasant visit." She smirked as she continued the tango, not bothered enough to stop yet.  
Her partner was confused now as well. _"Algún ex tuyo?_ That some of ex boyfriend of yours?"  
 _"Ja, ya el quisiera._ As if." Sabrina chuckled. _  
_The piece ended and the boy dug out a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to her with a wink. _"Por si te aburrís del flacucho ese._ In case you get bored of that skinny one."

Sabrina put on her best seductive smirk and signaled to Nico that she would be outside before grabbing Danny by the shirt and dragging him out and into the alleyway besides the _milonga_ with a little more force than necessary. "What the fuck do you want?"  
"Help. The Guys in White put a spy in my school and disguised it as an exchange student! And now he seduced my best friends with his _foreignness_ to...do something bad, probably." Danny explained, spreading his arms out to communicate his emotions. Jealousy. There was so much jealousy just pouring out his words.  
"And why should I help you?"  
"Because we are friends?"  
"Are we? I didn't notice." Amused, Sabrina leaned against the wall, propped one leg up and crossed her arms, watching him unravel in front of her.

Danny grew impatient and even more desperate. "Look, I'm _really_ sorry for coming here - but the Guys in White have upgraded their technology and their weapons - it's a miracle I'm not deader than I already am!"  
"I knew about the Guys in White upgrading, but I made the mistake of assuming you'd have enough will to live to stay away from them." Sabrina cocked her head. "Are you sure that you getting hit more is not the result of you not thinking straight because of your jealousy towards that exchange student? Because that's what it looks like, _boludo._ " Thinking of a particularly awful outcome, Sabrina stood straight and pushed the other halfa to get his attention before grabbing him by the collar and bringing his face closer. "If you are exposed because of something _that_ stupid then _te lo juro por Dios que te voy a meter ese_ "crush" _por el orto. Así que te calmas, o te calmo!_ Understand?"  
Fenton swallowed hard. "Nope, but I can guess from your expression that it was a threat to my physical or mental integrity." Sabrina let him go and Daniel turned around and left.  
" _Más te vale._ You better be." She said once he was out of earshot before heading back inside.

A few hours later, when the sun rose and Sabrina was almost home from the _milonga_ (with several phone numbers in her purse), her cellphone rang and a desperate Mandel stammered from the other end of the line. "Marquez? _Que bien que estas despierta,_ sorry for the hour but there is a big problem with the portal-"  
"Mandel, I'm a scientist not an engineer - I can only break the portal, not fix it."  
" _I know that._ But that's kind of why I need you here. There's something off with it and I may need you to break it before the lab or the entire block blows up."  
"Why can't you do it?"  
"Marquez, I'm physically incapable of destroying my life's work - you of all people should understand that."  
Sabrina grimaced at the thought of being on her feet any longer but agreed. "Fine - but I break it and then I go home." Remembering the appropriate lab attire, Sabrina looked down at the short dress, heels, and slightly smudged red lipstick. "Give me five minutes to change clothes and I'll be right there."

Changing into more comfortable and lab appropriate clothes (jeans, t-shirt, her red hoodie, and sneakers), Sabrina flew to the lab only to find an extremely concentrated Mandel hunching over the controls of the portal. _Oh great, he went into hyper-focus again. Lucky me._ "Mandel, snap out of it. I don't want want to end up in the Ghost Cell again." Sabrina growled to herself and the memories. After a string of malfunctions had allowed slightly more dangerous ghosts to sneak into city - all of them wreaking havoc until they were kicked back into the Ghost Zone by the Ghost Thief (physical damage endured by said Ghost Thief included a sprained wrist, a second-degree burn on the side, a nasty cut on the stomach, and a broken little toe) - Mandel had devoted his life and time to fixing the portal and ensuring that it would stay closed this time, going into a hyper-focus state that lasted for a few hours before snapping out of it on its own.

Not wanting to wait that long, Sabrina used telekinesis to manipulate a wrench into hitting Mandel in the shoulder, a little too hard. "Ow! Marquez! Oh...I was in hyper-focus again wasn't I?" He beckoned her in, indicating the lab was safe. "Thanks for coming - did I wake you?"  
"Nah, I was winning a bet by dancing tango and getting phone numbers."  
Mandel looked up from his work. "Huh, I didn't take you for a _chamuyera._ " A pause and a reconsideration. "Never-mind you are the perfect example of a _chamuyera._ Anyhow, the portal has been having some pretty bad malfunctions since I installed the vacuum feature - I tried de-installing it, but nothing seems to be working. I have one more option and if that doesn't work...do your worst."

 _Of course it was that damn vacuum feature._ The vacuum feature was arguably one of Mandel's worst brainchildren, conceived shortly after a string of malfunctions, the idea was that the new feature would enable the portal to "vacuum" all of the medium to high level ghosts in a three-mile radius back into the Ghost Zone. Sabrina had argued that all ghosts in every three-mile radius also included her and thus it was a pretty risky idea to be trying out without being 100% sure that the portal wouldn't drag her as well. They'd done the calculations and figured that she would be relatively safe...as long as they kept her in the "Ghost Cell" (also known as the cupboard-turned-containment cell for ghosts that the Ghost Thief had been able to escape in approximately one minute) while the first trial was conducted. The first trial had been successful and a second one with Sabrina present in the lab demonstrated that as long as she kept her ghost side under control, the portal's controls wouldn't register her as a threat.

"Everything's set - stay behind the door just in case."

Sabrina stepped back and watched as the light on the controls flickered and the noise of the portal growled...before halting to a sudden stop. Mandel cursed at the ceiling before beckoning her forward and Sabrina cautiously stepped inside. " _Y que va'ser,_ we'll have to start over, _ratita._ " Mandel dragged himself up and straightened his back. "Fuck, I should drop the _medialunas..._ whatever, I'm starving - I'm going to head to the _confitería_ on the corner and pick up some pastries and coffee. Want anything?"  
"Two _b_ _olas de fraile_ and I have some mercy on the portal."  
 _"Trato hecho."_

Mandel left, leaving Sabrina alone in the empty lab surrounded by their most recent experiments. Sabrina decided to get started with the destruction so that she could go home, grabbing a wrench and stepping closer to the portal. Out of the blue, the portal controls lit up again and flickered uncontrollably at an alarming pace; the portal lit up as well, sparks flying out of a few cables - making Sabrina shriek and turn invisible for a second out of instinct. _La puta ma-_ Suddenly a sucking noise almost deafened her before being her feet were kicked out from underneath by an unseen force. Grunting and screaming, Sabrina was dragged into the opening portal even as she tried to hold onto cables with no avail - the vacuum feature was too strong and there was no way to fight it back.

With one last scream, Sabrina was violently pulled into the Ghost Zone and could only watch as the portal doors shut down in front of her.

...

Mandel returned to the lab to find that Sabrina wasn't there and that the portal was sparking up.

 _La puta madre que lo pario-_ There was an incessant banging on the portal from the other side, each bang weaker than the one before - like the ghost (or hybrid) on the other side was growing tired. "MANDEL! MANDEL! MANDEL _LA PUTA MADRE, ABRIME_!"  
"Marquez? I was gone for five minutes- what the fuck happened?"  
"The portal activated, I was dragged in by your worst idea to the date. Can you fix this?"  
Mandel hesitated, sucking on his teeth. "I don't know, it's going to take a while to fix it. How long would it take you to get back here from the nearest portal?"  
"Several hours- oh shit, my parents are going to kill me if they call and I'm not there." Mandel heard an exasperated scream and several curses from the other side. "Make up something believable, I'll try to fly there as fast as I can."

And with that, the lab was plunged into silence again with only the clinks of diligent tools and possible solutions to break it.

...

After a few minutes of flying at top speed through the Ghost Zone, she could see the Fenton Portal in the distance as she was getting closer and closer - _almost there._ She was just outside when she suddenly stopped and reconsidered something: _w_ _hat if the Fentons (parents and/or sister) are there?_ The Ghost Thief turned invisible and proceeded to slowly cross the Fenton Portal into Amity Park. The Fenton Lab was messy and disorganized - much like the last time she had been there - except that now there was no evil Ghost King to fight. Now the lab was empty of people. The Ghost Thief flew upwards and phased through the ceiling of the basement and out of Fenton Works, flying over the town to see if there was any place out of the way so that she could change back into Marquez.

That's when she was almost hit by an Ecto Ray.

Now on high alert, the Ghost Thief turned invisible again - having not realized before that she had been visible - and intangible as she turned around to see a stark white battle plane with the US Government insignia on one of the wings. _Oh shit-_ Another ray actually hit her, right on her left shoulder; the Ghost Thief grimaced and cringed at the acid burn but stayed focused the best she could. _Okay, they have a ghost detector, but I can still get them off my back._ With a plan formulating in her head, the Ghost Thief flew right in the middle of the sidewalks, knowing that they wouldn't risk attacking her right away if there was a big chance that civilians could get hurt. A terrible place if they didn't want to hurt their public image by injuring human, living citizens.

The plane now hovered above the ground, waiting for her to slip up and make a mistake. _Then they are going to be waiting for a long time._ Gathering her energy, the Ghost Thief flew upwards and in serpentine towards the plane, avoiding hit after hit until she was right at the underbelly of the plane. The ray was now aiming for the plane. Smirking the Ghost Thief phased through the plane so that she was standing on the roof just as the ray shot at her, creating a medium sized hole in the plane. Jumping from place to place, the ray kept aiming and firing at her, destroying more of the plane with each shot until the Guys in White agents were struggling to breath and the plane looked like a Swiss cheese. The plane began to fall down, steering in an almost straight line to the ground. The Ghost Thief quickly flew up, gaining altitude and watching the plane crash on the outskirts of the town while the operatives were ejected from the plane.

The Ghost Thief began feeling the after-effects of the chase as she descended and headed for a deserted alley before transforming back into Sabrina Marquez. Panting and sweating, Sabrina swiped a lock of hair away from her face as she regained her breath. She could see - and feel - the scorched flesh under the red hoodie, stinging and burning. Thank God for accelerated healing, but even then - she needed to treat the wound. Right now, she didn't feel like experimenting on her immune system.

She didn't know how long had passed before she heard a commotion and Sabrina looked up and saw the same Guys in White operatives targeting Danny Phantom. _Should I help him?_ She remembered his interruption. _Naaaaah, he can manage._

Okay, he was also taken aback. He was hit several times as well before he managed to make the agents fall off their Unidentified Flying Attack Vehicles and made the aforementioned vehicles crash. Sabrina traced him heading back to where she assumed his sidekicks would be, only to find Sam and Tucker talking with a tall guy with spiky white hair and a single earring. _So that's the foreign student - meh, I've made out with better-looking foreigners._ "Daniel!" Sabrina called, snapping him out his trance as he stared longingly from the building.

"Oh, hi Sabrina." He greeted her as the pair of light rings around his waist appeared and split apart, revealing Danny Fenton. His expression became suspicious as he realized who he was talking to. "Wait, what are you doing here? Thought you made it pretty clear that you weren't going to help me." He saw the burnt hoodie and the state of her shoulder. "And what happened to you?"  
" _¿Y que te parece?_ Same thing that happened to you, I got attacked." Sabrina explained, she winced as she showed him the injury. "And as to what I'm doing here. Long story short, Mandel tried to upgrade the portal so that it would drag every ghost within a three-mile radius back to the Ghost Zone, unfortunately that also includes me. I just arrived at the lab when it activated itself and he estimates that it's going to take a while to fix it. So _voila,_ I arrived here and was almost instantly attacked by the Guys in White."  
"I'm a little bit preoccupied here." Daniel said as he turned around and started to leave before Sabrina said something in Spanish he couldn't understand and pulled him by the back of his t-shirt.  
"You know I wouldn't ask for your help unless I needed it. This wound needs medical attention, hospitals are completely out of the question, and I'm just asking you for the supplies." She argued. "Besides, I helped you when you were injured - the first time we met, remember? - so it's only right that you help me as well." Remembering Daniel's current situation, she decided to use it as a bargain chip to her advantage. "And I can help you get rid of the foreigner if you want."  
At the mention of the foreigner, the boy's face lit up with interest. "Really?"  
"Get me the supplies I need first and then I help you." Sabrina settled, stretching out her hand to seal the deal.

Daniel shook it intently and gestured her to follow him.

...

Two injured halfas walk into a ghost-hunters' house. It's like the beginning of joke - except in this case it's not.

"I think everyone's out. There's a first-aid kit in the upstairs bathroom." Danny whispered, just in case someone else was still there. Too weak to use their powers, the teenagers tiptoe upstairs without making a sound and finally end up in his bedroom-

Only to find Jasmine Fenton waiting for her brother.

Danny wanted the Earth to swallow him. Introducing Jazz to Sabrina had been a complicated subject - when Jazz was integrated into Team Phantom, Danny told her about Sabrina's existence and previous visits, but so far his sister never actually had the chance to meet the _porteña_. He had decided to leave out the whole "thief with no honor and undefined morals" and "selfish manipulative bastard with spies in Amity Park" details just in case his sister decided to go after Sabrina like she did with Vlad. But now Sabrina was injured and he _did_ owe it to her - maybe his fears were baseless and the two geniuses would get along.

"Danny, I told you not to go out while the Guys in White are here!" Jazz's attention turned to Sabrina. "And who's this?"  
Danny let out a heavy sigh. "Insufferable genius, meet the evil genius. Jazz, meet Sabrina - Sabrina, this is my sister Jazz."  
Sabrina managed a smile. " _Un placer._ "  
"Look, Jazz - we need-"  
"First-aid kit. Got it, you two sit down. I want both of you to tell me what happened."

While they patched their wounds, Jazz and Sabrina started talking as if they were life-long friends (effectively annexing Danny in his own bedroom), finding common ground on their interests and the ignorance of the other. "My brother didn't really tell me much about you. You are a scientist, right?"  
"Biochemist, mostly. But I do a bit of everything, being a test subject included."  
"Interesting. Danny told me you did a few tests on yourself and on him."  
Sabrina chuckled over the memory. "The first thing I did after almost dying was to run tests. It took time and stolen equipment - my parents aren't scientists - but I eventually acquired all the data I needed for reassurance and to satisfy my curiosity - please remind your brother to do monthly check-ups with me, I want to make sure the whole "halfa" state of being doesn't affect us negatively in the long run-"

Danny decided it was better to cut this conversation before his crush ended up with that _spy_. "Alright nerds, can we focus on what's important here?"  
Jazz picked up on his meaning but stood against it. "Yeah - the fact that you two are in no shape to go back out there again. Just because you heal faster, that doesn't mean those wounds can't get re-opened."  
This time, both half-ghosts protested. "I have to get back home before my parents notice I'm gone and lose it." "My friends are in danger!"  
"They upgraded their weaponry, you could get seriously hurt again."

That sparked an idea in Sabrina's head. _They upgraded their weaponry - you learnt that the hard way...but what if they no longer had their weaponry?_

Sabrina turned to Danny. "I have an idea on how to get rid of them - but you are going to be the bait."  
Daniel let out a defeated sigh and nodded. "Okay, what's the plan?"

...

The Ghost Thief grinned deviously as her two inconspicuous targets left their hiding place, taking the bait of the trap.

The operatives flew away in their...were those _jetpacks?_ The Ghost Thief remained invisible as she went into their room and took in all the high-tech equipment, weapons, and spotless white suits. " _Santa mierda,_ this assholes really took their name seriously." Uncertain of how much time she had, the Ghost Thief knelt down and started inspecting the nearest piece of equipment. She found the controls, took the lid off, and looked inside to find a tangle of multicolored cables and the board. _I don't know what I'm doing, so I'll just..._ with a tug, the Ghost Thief ripped out all the cables at once, careful not to disturb the outside casing of the strange equipment; satisfied with her work, she put the lid back on again and left the piece of equipment right where she had found it.

The same procedure was repeated over and over with every weapon, piece of equipment, and communication device she could find in every nook and cranny of that motel room. Once she was completely satisfied that those agents would find themselves weapon-less, she flew outside and sabotaged their car as well - for good measure and vengeance.

Now to see how Daniel was holding up with his role in the plan.

...

Danny lost count of how many times he was hit.

 _*Sigh* next time; I mess up the equipment._ He almost regretted saving Elliot and becoming their target - he tried to keep dodging their shots, but they seemed to guess his next move. _Dang, they really stepped-up their training._ He was supposed to keep them distracted while Sabrina sabotaged their equipment - he had volunteered himself to the fight because he wasn't as tech savvy as Tucker and Sabrina seemed to know enough to mess up their stuff for good. And of course, just his luck, he saved the guy that had been flirting with his crush.

Operative L was poised to shoot him again when a blast from the ground hit his jet-pack and made him career to the ground. Operative M turned his attention to the unknown attacker that had shot his companion and Danny took advantage of his distraction to tackle him to the ground. With the two agents knocked unconscious, Danny looked up to see Sabrina Marquez holding a Fenton Blaster, smirking.

"Thanks for that one."  
" _De nada._ "

A couple of shouts rang through the empty parking lot and the halfas saw Sam and Tucker rushing to the scene, panting. "We came as soon as we heard - Danny, are you okay?" Sam said, worry etched on her face. The teenagers took notice of Sabrina and looked surprised.  
"Oh, hi Sabrina. What brings you to Amity Park? Did you bring meat?" Tucker asked, hopeful.  
"Nope and nothing I signed up for. And speaking of that - danger neutralized, I'm heading home."  
Danny tried to stop her. "Wait, you promised you'd help me-"  
"Do you see that foreign boy here?"  
Fenton took a look around the empty space. "No."  
Sabrina shrugged her shoulders. "Then I guess my work's been done for me. _Hasta nunca -_ don't come to Buenos Aires to bother me again - _chau_."  
Sam and Tucker caught the meaning of their exchange and Sam was livid. "Wait, you asked _her_ to get rid of Gregor?"

Sabrina didn't want to stick around to see that confrontation, instead turning around to make a quick stop in Fenton Works to grab something to eat and thank Jazz properly before flying back to Buenos Aires (hopefully the portal would be fixed and she wouldn't have to fly cross-continent with an injured shoulder). Back in the house, Jazz was gone and the ghost-hunters weren't there either, giving Sabrina a free pass to eat some of their most edible-looking food and sit down to rest for a second before having to head back home.

After eating some apples, Sabrina Marquez changed into the Ghost Thief and took a deep breath before taking off and flying at top speed back to her home.

...

It was noon in Buenos Aires when an exhausted Ghost Thief landed on her bed and changed back into Sabrina Marquez.

A quick poke into her parents' room revealed their bed was made and not a single sign that they had come home last night - good, that secretive and extensive operation they had to do over the weekend kept them busy enough to unable them to call her. Stripping out of the jeans and bloodied hoodie, Sabrina changed into pijamas and dialed Mandel as she got under her covers.

"Huh?...Sabrina?! Where are you?" Mandel answered groggily before almost deafening her.  
Realization dawned on her as she recognized the tone. "...did you fall asleep in the lab?"  
A yawn. "Maybe. You're back in Buenos Aires - that's great."  
"Just called to let you know. You should go home and rest, I'm sure your fiancee misses you."  
"Will do. Goodbye." He said before hanging up.

Unable to keep her eyes open for another second, Sabrina Marquez finally fell asleep.

* * *

 **Well, that certainly took longer than expected...**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **Hasta nunca: see you never**

 **Santa mierda: holy shit**

 **"Un placer": pleasure**

 **¿Y que te parece?": "whatcha think?"**

 **chamuyero/chamuyera: person who is a smooth liar in order to seduce women/men**

 **"Que bien que estas despierta": "so good you're awake"**

 **milonga: place where you dance tango**

 **"Wacho del orto que hincha las pelotas un sábado a la noche": "stupid asshole that annoys on a Saturday night"**

 **"¡Te calmas o te calmo!": "calm down or I'll calm you down"**

 **"Y que va'ser": "what's it gonna be?"**

 **bolas de fraile: fried pastries filled with dulce de leche and sprinkled with sugar.**

 **"Te lo juro por Dios que te voy a meter ese "crush" por el orto": "I swear to God that I will shove that crush up your ass"**

 **"trato hecho": deal**

 **abrime: open up!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Elmer (unfortunately)**

 **Just to clarify: neither Día de los Muertos nor Halloween are widely celebrated festivities in Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Día de los Difuntos (the Argentine version of Día de los Muertos) is only massively celebrated in the northern provinces (Jujuy, Tucuman, and Santiago del Estero).**

 **A Crown of Dead Flowers - Torrent of Terror, Halloween/Día de los Difuntos**

Sabrina was focused on finishing an experiment that afternoon when the dart pierced her.

It came out of nowhere, breaking the corner of a window and implanting itself in her neck - not giving her enough time to turn intangible or twist out of its way. Sabrina twitched as she felt something burn through her system, the stinging pain drowning out the worried shouts and desperate questions from Toledo and López as black spots clouded her sight and the edges of her vision started to blur and fade to black. Drowsy and losing consciousness, Sabrina managed to support herself on the worktable for a moment before her legs buckled from underneath her, making her tumble to the floor.

Her ghost sense went off, jolting her enough to enable her to see the grinning ghost outside the window, holding a dart gun over a cloaked shoulder. "Sweet dreams, Miss Marquez." Vlad Plasmius said - or she thinks he said, at this point her ears were ringing and she can't really distinguish what's real and what's the high-pitch whistle in her head.

The last thing she felt was the cold lab floor against her cheek and the rushed steps of her coworkers as everything faded away.

...

The three professionals were panicking. Panicking as in: hands pulling on hair, biting nails, and scrambling to try to fix the problem.

"Quick! López, get Doctor Martinez! Mandel, the first aid kit!" Toledo said from her position next to Sabrina's still body. As the two men left, the woman shook Sabrina's body by the shoulders, trying to wake her up. "C'mon Marquez... _despertáte_. You have to wake up."

Sabrina didn't wake up. Not even as much as stir. She laid there, on the floor, with her eyes closed and her face twisted in pain - a leftover expression from whatever the hell was injected into her body. Toledo could only hope that it wasn't lethal - none of them wanted to bury the girl, let alone have to explain what happened to her parents. That would just tip off the first domino in a chain of disasters - the police, the law, numerous ghosts, too many questions with answers they didn't know, the scientific community shutting them down, having to explain scars and strange behavior, admitting that Sabrina is responsible for murder and extortion at the very least.

Mandel came back with the first-aid kit in hand and started to do a cautionary check as Toledo grabbed the dart that had been discarded to the floor during the confusion. It was almost empty, only a small measure of the liquid remaining inside the vial. Toledo hoped that it would be enough to determine the substance and find the retroactive agent that could wake her up.

There was also the matter of who had attacked. The mystery attacker hadn't shot anyone else, nor did it make its presence known or attempt to do anything else. It just wanted Sabrina unconscious or dead, but definitely out of the way. Shit. _Shit._ The three researchers knew Sabrina had made some more than unsavory enemies, but were any of them capable of murdering her?

Martinez ran into the lab with López on his heels. " _Alguien me quiere explicar que paso acá?!_ Anyone want to explain what happened here?!"  
"Someone, or something, shot a dart through the window at Marquez. She's unconscious, but we don't know if it will kill her or if the effect will wear off." Toledo reported, watching nervously as Mandel finished checking Marquez's vitals, letting out a sigh.  
"Her vitals are normal for her, although a bit slow- as if she was just asleep."

Sabrina remained still and silent - not showing any signs of alertness, not even as much as a finger twitch or groan. A thought crept up her mind and Toledo quickly brushed it away, not wanting to really consider _that_ outcome unless it was staring right into her face.

Sabrina Marquez looked dead.

...

Vlad smirked as he stood outside the broken window in midair, invisible and proud of his work.

Sabrina Marquez was lying on the ground and she wouldn't move from there on her own for several hours. Good - the last thing he needed was for Daniel to come to her for assistance if he couldn't interfere enough on his own.

Assured that the thief without honor or morals wouldn't be waking up, Vlad Masters smirked triumphantly one last time before taking his leave.

...

Sabrina knew something was off when she realised the dream was a nice one.

Lately, the nightmares had gotten a hold of her again - setting her levitating and screaming in the middle of the night; waking up drenched in cold sweat to shaking hands and a clouded head, making her unaware of her surroundings for a second and panicking. But this dream was pleasant, oddly enough.

She was on the rooftop of Nico's apartment building with Nico - it was late at night and they were hanging out, _mate_ and an entire chocolate cake laying on the small table between them. The stars were out, and the chill in the air could barely be registered by the two friends as they plopped on their chairs improperly, looking at the sky. It was nice - more than nice, considering peace and quiet were a rare occurrence for the hybrid. Even the ghosts never stayed quiet for once.

Wait.

 _Aguanta, y mis fantasmas? Hold up, where are my ghosts?_ Sabrina sat up and looked around, expecting to find Amaru or Bautista or any of the Recoleta ghosts. Nothing - not even a whisper or a giggle. Nico noticed her worry and sat up as well. " _Sabri?_ Something wrong?"  
Deciding that they were probably in the Cementerio, Sabrina shrugged it off and laid down once more, wrapping her shawl tighter around her shoulders. "Nothing, just remembered that I have to do something later."

Suddenly, a cry for help rang through the silence - one that Sabrina recognized.

She whipped her head around and found Doña Federica - an old 20th century housemaid that had come from Galicia and died from Measles - flying frantically towards her, holding a crown of _azahares_ and _encarnaciones_ in her hands. " _Niña!_ The Cementerio! We've been attacked!" Sabrina pretended to get a call on the cell phone and reacted strongly - she stood up abruptly, startling Nico as she left the shawl and hurried to put on her coat and shoes.  
"Something happened?" Nico asked, standing up as well.  
Sabrina stored her cell phone back in her pocket and stammered. "Something came up at the lab - the new janitor messed with one of the experiments. I have to go."

Not waiting for a response, Sabrina ran to the staircase and closed the door behind her before changing into the Ghost Thief and flying away to the Cementerio de Recoleta - the meeting point for pretty much all the ghosts in Buenos Aires. An attack? Who would attack the most peaceful ghosts Sabrina had encountered?

But before she could arrive at the Cementerio, the dream changed.

...

Toledo and López were at their wits' end trying to find a safe recovery agent for the sedative used on the little lab rat.

The sedative used was like nothing they'd seen before and they couldn't risk potentially endangering Sabrina by winging it and testing by trial and error. That would either make Sabrina slip into a comma or definitely kill her - none of which sounded too appealing considering they both resulted in the same outcome: having to explain everything to the Detectives Marquez and facing their wrath (and legal consequences).

An hour had passed since Sabrina was taken out when security called from the waiting room, bringing them out of hyper-focus for a second as López answered the call. "What is it, Roli?"  
"There is someone here asking for your intern."  
Oh shit. "Name?"  
"Detective Fabian Marquez." OH SHIT. López went mute, unable to answer.  
Toledo undid his death grip on the phone and took over, swallowing hard before calmly announcing. "Martinez will be there shortly to greet him." Roli hung up and the silence became torturing.

If they were panicking before, now they were on the verge of a full-blown breakdown. Mandel ran over half the staff as he raced to Martinez's office, not even bothering to knock. " _JEFE_ , we have a problem. Fabian Marquez is downstairs right now, asking for Sabrina, and Sabrina is still unconscious." He explained breathlessly, gasping for air. Martinez bolted out of his chair, almost tripping over himself.  
"Okay, I'll entertain him - you and the other two come up with a believable excuse just in case and try to make it look...less disastrous. GO!"

Martinez braced himself and stepped out of his office, going down to the waiting room to greet the detective. "Fabian! What a lovely surprise!" He said gleefully, letting him pass into the hallway that lead to the average pharmaceutical labs. "To what do I owe this visit?"  
Fabian Marquez laughed and greeted him with the same energy. "I was hoping to see Sabrina for a second. Something came up and we'll be gone for a few days so I was going to tell her myself. Mind if I head up?"  
Martinez had to hold himself and not turn that offer down _too_ quickly. "I'm sorry, I can't. We have a strict "staff only" policy when it comes to the laboratories, too many dangers and hazards."  
"Okay then, can Sabrina come down here for a minute then? If that's okay, _por supuesto._ "  
Martinez forced himself to smile. "I'll ask her supervisor. Please wait right here."

Martinez walked calmly until he was out of the detective's sight and called the Portal Project lab, telling them of the situation at hand. "We don't have time, we'll have to risk it. Try all that you can think of." Toledo replied a shaky _"we'll do our best, jefe"_ before hanging up. Martinez walked back to the detective and looked apologetic. "I'm afraid that they are doing a very important test right now - it requires a lot of attention and could be potentially dangerous if left unsupervised, so unfortunately, Sabrina can't come down right now."

Fabian cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow - _oh no, he doesn't believe me, he's going to wait here until his daughter comes down and she won't anytime soon because she's unconscious and will remain so until God-knows-when_ \- but let out a heavy sigh before taking out his notepad from his pocket, writing down a message, and handing it to him. "You mind leaving her this, Doctor Martinez? I have to get back to the station."  
" _Pero por supuesto_ \- you should drop by more often, I'm starting to miss chasing after ghost criminals with you and Gabriela."  
Fabian laughed. "Oh well, maybe one day I will. _Un placer verlo de vuelta,_ Doctor. _Chau._ "

The detective left and Martinez dropped his smile, muttering to himself and storing the note in his pocket. "Please never come by again without a two-hour warning at least." One bullet dodged, but they still had to deal with the current wound. Going back to his office, Martinez dialed a number and spoke with an old friend of his in the flying business.

"Hi, Roberto. Listen, think you're up for repaying me that favor?"  
"Sure, what do you need?"  
"Give me your fastest plane and your most reckless pilot. I have an urgent meeting in the United States."

...

It was suddenly _Día de la Tradición_ and she was holding Argentina's flag in her gloved hands while the students, teachers, and parents sang the national anthem.

She was her class' _Abanderada_ \- someone with "outstanding grades and moral principles deemed worthy enough to bear the country's flag" - which meant that she'd have to bear the flag in every National Holiday Performance her class was chosen to host. It also meant that she had to wear the uniform in pristine condition, white kid gloves, a red ribbon in her hair, and the white-and-light blue sash draped across her chest.

Again, no ghosts around. Which was odd, considering most ghosts liked to stick around for national holidays - especially those that died before they existed and were curious about the celebrations. The smell of pastries was making her stomach grumble and Sabrina had to remind herself to stay still and maintain her grip on the flag. _Just get through the principal's speech and then you can eat as many_ pastelitos de batata _as you want._

Out of nowhere, a detonation and the cacophony of a nearby building being destroyed deafened everyone in the ceremony - making everyone cover their ears as chaos exploded and everyone started running like headless chickens. Sabrina set the flag back in its pole and ran to see what was happening - only to regret it almost immediately.

A ghost fight had resulted in the building next door having a corner ripped out and thrown to the street, crushing pedestrians underneath the rubble and burying cars whole. The two ghosts kept fighting, disregarding everyone else around them - and Sabrina recognized them. She knew their names, knew that their feud had gone all the way back to the time they killed each other in 1926 - and how they seemed determined to continue that feud in death; their fights were good entertainment until they escalated into collateral damage. One of them crashed through the window, creating even more panic as the other followed and the fight continued. Sabrina heard Nico calling her name and looked just in time to see a misguided ectoblast hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying into the wall.

Before she could move to help him, the dream faded to black and from there nothing. Darkness and silence and emptiness.

...

Martinez glared at the hybrid across the desk as he continued writing nothing in his planner, paying no mind to him.

"Put the pen down, Mister Masters, we both know you're not writing anything." Doctor Martinez snapped, growing impatient.  
Vlad Masters looked up from the paper as if he had just noticed the old man. "Ah, Doctor Martinez. Any particular reason why you decided to fly all this way and take up my time during the biggest heat-wave Amity Park has ever experienced?" On cue, the screams of citizens and destroyed buildings could be heard from the street just as a ghost came into sight, fighting with an angry Danny Phantom.  
"Seeing as this _is_ Amity Park, I would have gathered it was just another Tuesday." A pause. "But you know _exactly_ why I'm here, Masters."

Yes, they both knew exactly why this meeting was taking place. And maybe it had surprised Vlad that the ageing doctor had taken the time to get on a small plane and break almost every aviation rule in order to get to Amity Park as fast as possible - he realized that the old man had either grown fond of the selfish genius or would be in serious trouble if she died and was therefore desperate to keep her alive and awake. Both options were completely possible.

"Allow me to guess, it concerns that little protégée of yours. She won't die, if that's what troubles you." He said, nonchalantly.  
"Oh, good." Martinez sarcastically said. "Then may I ask _why_ you sedated my employee? And spare the _chamullo,_ I know about your...state of being." Martinez asked, his expression darkening.  
"Is that a threat, Doctor Martinez?" Vlad said with a sly smirk, his eyes glowing a toxic fuchsia that reminded him a little too much of Sabrina. Martinez drew back and Vlad smiled in satisfaction. "I needed to do something that wouldn't have sat well with Miss Marquez and I didn't want her to interfere." He seriously wanted the mad scientist to leave and never return. "She should be coming to her senses in a few hours."  
" _Aja,_ and do you have your defences ready for when she wakes up and decides to pay a visit?"  
Vlad Masters shrugged the veiled threat off. "Right now, angry Argentinians are not my most urgent concern."

"Oh, but it will be." Martinez left without waiting to be dismissed.

...

The darkness and the silence were boring at first - and then Sabrina found that spending God-knows-how-long alone with only her thoughts as company was an experience that would have sent anyone else on a one-way trip to the madhouse. Old memories; schemes yet to be carried out and schemes that had gone wrong; small moments that made everything look at peace - the _murga_ that took place at school every year to celebrate the start of the summer holidays, listening to the ghosts at the Recoleta; her worst fears and nightmares replaying over and over in a loop until...

It was almost seven when Sabrina woke up gasping for air, almost giving López a heart attack.

Immediately after, they jumped on her - three adults almost reduced to sobbing. " _Gracias a Dios que estas bien._ We were so worried and you were out for hours and then your father dropped by and we feared this was the end and-" Toledo started rambling before wrapping her arms around her neck, coming pretty close to choking her.  
"Can't...breath..." Sabrina managed, getting them to lay off and give her some space. Her vision was still swimming, her mind was still half-useless, and her legs felt like they were made of _gelatina,_ but she was still partly alive - so things were optimal, at most.

They told her of what had happened while she was out - the panic trying to find a recovery agent and wake her up, her father stopping by and almost managing to get to the lab, Martinez pretty much stomping down to Amity Park to negotiate with Vlad, and finally, waking up now. Safe and more or less sound. Five minutes later, Sabrina was back on her feet and on her merry way out. Well, more like kicked out with strict orders to remain in bed for at least a day, eat properly, drink plenty, and sleep for more than five hours - but she wasn't going to protest.

Sabrina walked back to her house and smiled as she thought of a vengeful scheme. Someone was going to get what was coming to them.

...

Two days later, Danny supposed that almost getting hit in the face with a field hockey stick was the least horrible thing that happened that week, all things considered.  
He also supposed that startling a Sabrina Marquez armed with said hockey stick wasn't the smartest choice he made that week either.

" _La puta_ \- oh, it's you." Sabrina said, lowering the stick and cringing away before fully realizing who she was talking to, her expression turning to one of annoyance. " _Que querés?_ What do _you_ want?"  
"Look, I heard what Vlad did to you and since he isn't going to apologize, I will. Vlad didn't have any right to do that and-"  
"No, duh - you don't have to apologize for him, he should be here himself. And don't worry, I already had my revenge."  
Well, this could be very bad. "What did you do?"

Sabrina merely smirked victoriously and signaled him to follow her. She boasted everything on the way to the Cementerio and Danny couldn't help but laugh.

...

Upon returning home from fixing that whole ordeal, Vlad found that his mansion felt...odd. But he couldn't quite place his finger on what was wrong.

The books on all of his bookshelves were all in the wrong order; furniture had either been moved ever-so slightly that he tripped on almost everything or changed rooms completely; vials in the lab switched places or were incorrectly labeled; papers turned up on the wrong folders; the Maddie holograms were messed up: they were modified so that they mocked him instead of doting on him; the food that was supposed to be in the fridge was in the oven and the food in pantry was in the freezer; his clothes were on the floor and the shoes were on the closet shelves; and all the clocks marked the wrong time.

Vlad growled, as he finished taking in the mess done by the intruder. Whoever did this was dedicated to its work - and he had a pretty good idea of who was behind this. _Seriously, Miss Marquez, have you no better things to do?_ Shaking his head, Vlad berated himself for not seeing this coming. The old mad doctor had warned him that the thief without honor or morals would have her revenge one way or another - and that he should have been ready for whatever it was. _At least she didn't do any permanent damage - only the annoying kind._

Retiring to his study to what he thought would be another game of chess against the cat, he realized that there was something else amiss in the mansion.

Maddie the Cat was missing.

...

"Was kidnapping the cat really necessary?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

They were sitting inside a mausoleum in the Cementerio de Recoleta, ignoring the ghosts' celebration outside. Danny couldn't recall the ghosts in Amity Park ever being...anything like this. These ghosts were dancing, praying, singing, telling stories, weaving a crown out of dead flowers, and laughing - there were no ghosts harassing humans or hybrids and no human ghost hunters trying to capture them. It was...nice.

Sabrina scratched the white cat sitting on her lap behind the ears - if the cat was a hostage, she wasn't against it. "I didn't take her against her will - she followed me voluntarily." She protested. "And besides, hopefully it will give Vlad time to face his unhealthy obsessions instead of projecting them onto a poor animal who had the misfortune to be adopted by him."

Danny let out a sigh and slouched, watching the ghosts celebrating outside for a second before turning back to the _porteña_. "How'd you get the idea for the whole poltergeist act anyway? I almost thought you'd burned his mansion to the ground!"  
Sabrina smirked mischievously. "I was going to do something like that - but then I remembered this story and decided that it was a better way to get back at the billionaire bastard. Care to hear it?" Danny nodded out of curiosity. "So long story short, a man questions God and instead of, you know, flooding the entire earth and dooming all of humanity, He decides to punish the man by messing with the small things in his life. A parchment goes missing, the cat breaks his glasses, the ink pot is spilled over important documents, that sort of thing."

"So you decided to play God?"  
"Yes, I did. And it felt great."

Danny got up and stretched, deciding that he had enough for one day and should be heading home. "I wish I could stay for your celebrations, but I should be getting back home."  
"Sure." Sabrina said, giving him permission to leave. Danny was almost out of the mausoleum when Sabrina called his name and handed him Maddie the Cat. "Wait, you better make sure this beautiful creature gets back to the town safely - if something happens to her I'm sure my dead body would turn up in a ditch somewhere."  
He laughed nervously, knowing too well that it wasn't entirely unthinkable for Vlad to kill someone. "Will do. Take care, Sabrina." Danny Phantom flew away with a white cat in his hands - a strange sight had it there been any onlookers, but there were none.

Doña Federica startled her as the woman placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and handed her something. Sabrina had bought (yes, bought - not stolen) some flowers the day before and left them in the main mausoleum along with a lit candle. The rest of the living may have forgotten them, but she still saw them. Those flowers were wilted now, woven into a crown that Doña Federica presented her with, placing it on top of her hair - the ghost pointed to the elastic holding her braid together and Sabrina understood the message, undoing the braid and shaking her hair loose, for once.  
 _"Ahora si, niña."_ She said with an approving nod. Doña Federica cocked her head to the side and glided back outside, talking back to Sabrina as she headed back to the center of the festivities. _"Venga ya. Esta noche los muertos están vivos."_

Blowing out the candle in the mausoleum, Sabrina Marquez changed into the Ghost Thief and straightened the crown on her head before joining the celebrations.

* * *

 **Finally an update!**

 **Glossary and translations:**

 **"Si, justo": yeah right**

 **azahar: orange blossom**

 **encarnaciones** **: carnations**

 **niña: girl (used by older women to refer to young girls)**

 **pastelitos de batata: pastries made with sweet potato filling**

 **Día de la Tradición: November 10th, the birthday of Argentine author Jose Hernandez (he's the one that wrote "Martin Fierro", the Argentine epic poem) and day when Argentine _gaucho/paisana_ culture is celebrated (it involves being allowed to drink mate at school, everyone bringing pastries, and dancing _la chacarera_ )**

 **jefe: boss**

 **por supuesto: of course**

 **chamullo: bullshit**

 **"un placer verlo de vuelta": "pleasure to see you again"**

 **gelatina: jell-o**

 **"Gracias a Dios que estas bien": "thank God you're alright"**

 **murga: a street party where a band plays with rudimentary instruments, people dance on the streets and throw party foam at each other, usually in Carnaval**

 **abanderada/abanderado: flag-bearer**

 **"Ahora si, niña": "There, now you're ready."**

 **"Venga ya. Esta noche los muertos están vivos": "come along now: tonight the dead are alive"**

 **A crown of flowers: in traditional Spanish funerals, a crown of bright flowers are placed on the grave to show respect for the deceased.**


End file.
